FAS Newsletter Federation of Astronomical Societies http://www.fedastro.org.uk

Another Successful FAS Convention he 2009 FAS Annual Convention was Jerry’s talk was entitled Apollo Revisited T once again held at The Institute of As- and he took us through the Apollo project tronomy, Cambridge. In spite of not being from the early Saturn rocket launches to the the most convenient location for many people Moon Walks to the final days of the project. it does seem to be the preferred venue for He felt this was a timely subject as we were such events. celebrating 400 years since the invention of After refreshments, kindly organised by the telescope and 40 years since the first land- members of Cambridge AS, the event got ing on the Moon. underway with a talk by Dr Haley Gomez of It was refreshing to hear a talk illustrated Cardiff University. Her talk, Herschel - Un- with slides, instead of the more common veiling the cool universe, described the PowerPoint presentations. The phrase ’next Herschel infra-red telescope and its objectives. slide please’ is rarely heard these days. Jerry With its 3.5metre diameter mirror it will also told the gathering about his recent trip to collect long-wavelength radiation from the China to view the eclipse. coldest and most distant parts of the Uni- The AGM of the FAS was held next and verse. In particular, using infra-red this will be Richard Sargent led the meeting with aplomb. able to ’see’ through the dust clouds which In addition to normal AGM business a signifi- frustrate most other forms of telescope. cant action was to agree to move the year end Lord Professor Martin Rees Dr Gomez teased us by saying that some of the FAS. This date was delayed by half a exciting results were being obtained, in par- year, which had the effect of giving all mem- has stood down. Eric was warmly thank for all ticular related to Cass A, but giving more ber societies a half-year holiday on their sub- his past services. The publications distribution information was ‘more than her job was scriptions. The reason for this change being will now be undertaken by Steve Williams, worth. I am sure many of the audience will the need for FAS Council to calculate the whilst the insurance duties will be taken over watch the astronomy press and relevant web- required subscription levels once the insur- by the Hon Secretary, Shaun O’dell. sites with great interest for further announce- ance premium has been established, rather During the lunch interval delegates took ments on the progress of this exciting project. than the previous system where the premiums the opportunity to browse around the various The second talk of the day was due to be had to be ’guessed’, with the inevitable risk trade stand and many were wondering how Planetary Observing by Damian Peach. How- that entailed. they would get this telescope or that other ever Damian was unfortunately indisposed Eric Hutton, who after many years of expensive goodie past ’her indoors’ without and so Jerry Workman stood in at the last distributing the Newsletter and other publica- being caught!! minute. tions and also handling the insurance scheme, The first talk in the afternoon, Galaxy Zoo, was presented by Dr Chris Lintott. He started by taking us from the Big Bang to the expansion of the Universe and to the Sloan Great Wall. Dr Lintott explained that there was a real problem in analysing galaxies and computer model have proved to be quite unreliable. It was for this reason that the website www.galaxyzoo.com/ had been created. This allows amateur astronomers and even the general populace to contribute to the profes- sionals by classifying galaxies. He described it as Citizen Science. He also explained that as a direct result of this work a new type of galaxy had been established—the so-called Galaxy Zoo PEA. Immediately after this talk Richard Sargent (Continued on page 2)

President Treasurer Secretary Newsletter Editor Richard Sargent Peter Cooke Shaun O’Dell Frank Johns 4 Bache Drive, Upton, Haven Cottage, Frithville, 147 Queen St, Swinton, 38 Chester Road, Newquay, Chester. CH2 2JB Boston, Lincs, PE22 7DS Mexborough, S Yorkshire. Cornwall. TR7 2RH [email protected] 01205 750868 S64 6NG 01637 878020 [email protected] 0121 288 4373 [email protected] Issue 92 Winter 2009 [email protected]

Published by the Federation of Astronomical Societies ISSN 1361 - 4126 Presidents Spot

reetings to you. I’ll begin my article by accomplished talks he has given them over the G briefly mentioning a few things from years. As well as giving talks, this man has also the FAS Convention & AGM held at the served on the council of the Society for Popu- Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge on 3rd lar Astronomy, lectured at their meetings and October. This was a great success with more written for Popular Astronomy and is a local than 120 attendees who enjoyed four excel- officer for the CfDS. lent and enjoyable talks, and many trade This year’s worthy recipient of the Eric stands to spend their money at! Already we Zucker award is Jerry Workman of Loughton are starting to plan the 2010 Convention & AS. On behalf of societies in the Federation AGM and would welcome your suggestions of Astronomical Societies thank you very on location and speakers. much Jerry for your work. In my report to the AGM I noted the ab- Most of us know individuals in our astro- sence of new volunteers for service on the nomical societies who do an awful lot to pro- FAS Council. In 2010 we will be making mote astronomy to the public and/or give increased efforts to secure volunteers from talks to societies and/or are active in the cam- member societies for Council posts. Your FAS paign for dark skies etc. If you know such an Jerry Workman receiving the needs you! individual and think they deserve wider recog- Eric Zucker Award Each year at the AGM the FAS presents nition write to us and tell us about them and the ‘Eric Zucker ‘award to someone who has their work and we might publish it in the UK astronomical societies up and down the made a great contribution to Astronomy edu- newsletter! land have increased their public outreach cation and public outreach. This year the By the time you read this newsletter the efforts during IYA 2009, and those efforts will award was given to an amateur astronomer International Year of Astronomy will be draw- still carry on after IYA is over. Give yourselves who has been and continues to be a great ing to a close. Given all the problems going a big pat on the back. We can also take pride promoter of astronomy to the public and to on in the world which dominate the news, in celebrating 400 years of the telescope, that other amateur astronomers. A man who for at and given ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ and ‘The X marvellous invention that gives us amateur least the last 15 years has given many lectures Factor’, IYA 2009 was never going to be high astronomers so much pleasure and allows us to astronomical societies up and down the in the media’s coverage! Hopefully though the to see such wonderful sights in the night sky. land – from Cumbria to Kent from the SE to efforts of amateur and professional astrono- Enjoy, and best wishes and clear skies to you the SW, through the Midlands to East Anglia. mers in IYA 2009 have increased the people all. Many societies have been grateful for the of the world’s interest in Astronomy. In the Richard Sargent

(Continued from page 1) A New Publication on Practical Spectroscopy

decided to have a go at spectroscopy and all astronomical discoveries have been made with I so purchased a Star Analyser 100 from the spectroscope. Paton Hawksley for a very reasonable £81. The basic challenge facing the novice is where However that was the easy bit. to start. What equipment will I need? Where can I I then took my first image and then real- find a spectroscope? How do I process the CCD ised that processing this was far from straight- image? How do I analyze my first spectrum? These forward. In order to try to learn more I questions and more are addressed in this book. It joined a couple of the yahoo-groups specialis- provides up to date information on equipment, A vital job—folding raffle tickets ing in spectroscopy and was contacted by Ken spectroscopes and methods available to the ama- Harrison offering friendly advice and assis- teur, and more importantly “How to…”. tance. Even with his help and searching the By using amateur telescopes, mountings and presented the Eric Zucker Award to Jerry internet I realised this part of astronomy CCD cameras currently available, this book will Workman for his efforts in amateur astron- seemed very much a ‘black art’. It was when I show how, with the addition of a simple spectro- omy over the past 15 years or so, by giving asked Ken whether there were any practical scope we can observe and record spectra which talks in many parts of the country and giving books on the subject that he informed me reveals the temperature, composition and age of support to many astro-societies and others. that he was in course of writing such a book, stars, the nature of the glowing gases in nebulae The final talk of the day, What will the which is due to be published some time in and even the existence of other exo-planets circling next generation of telescopes tell us, was 2010. around distant stars. given by The Astronomer Royal, Lord Pro- He provided a synopsis of this book and I There are three sections in this book: fessor Martin Rees. feel that it may well be just the tool I need to • Introduction to Spectroscopy Lord Rees began by saying that he was not a visionary like Arthur C Clarke - then pro- get me up this rather steep learning curve. So • Obtaining and analyzing Spectra for those of you who may be thinking of giv- ceeded to indicate that this may not be en- • Spectroscope design and construction ing this branch of astronomy a try, the follow- tirely accurate! Each section is independent of the other, so if ing is a précis of his description of what the He reminded us of the space develop- you want to jump straight into taking your first book will be all about: ments since sputnik and outlined many of spectrum, go to Section 2 and get started! There have been three significant milestones in the projects currently on the drawing board. the history of observational astronomy; the inven- Springer will be the publisher. He also said that future manned space mis- tion of the telescope, photography and the spectro- sions are more likely to be entrepreneur scope. The development of the spectroscope has Personally this cannot come soon enough rather than government funded. contributed more to the science than any other for me!! All-in-all an enjoyable day. telescope accessory. It has been said that 85% of Frank Johns Frank Johns

F.A.S. Newsletter 92 2 Winter 2009 Wycombe AS Celebrate IYA 2009 at Amersham - with a little help from the FAS Dear All, o celebrate the International Year of mers’ Royal, Mr. Andrew Lound from the It was with great sadness that I read in the T Astronomy 2009 Wycombe Astro- Planetary Society who gave us a “Grand South Wales Evening Post on 14 October of nomical Society held an Open Day for mem- Tour of the Solar System and beyond”, and the possible closure of the observatory on the bers of the public and their families on Sat- our President Heather Couper, and Mr. Swansea seafront, home of the Swansea Astro- urday 3rd October in the Sports Hall and Nigel Henbest whose title “Cosmic Quest – nomical Society. grounds of their Headquarters at Woodrow A History of Astronomy” was followed by a As a resident of Ystradgynlais, I was a High House at Amersham. signing of their latest book. young member of the society back in the late The event included a mobile Planetarium 1960s and the inspiration and knowledge with shows throughout the day, table top gained from the society members was instru- displays by the Campaign for Dark Skies, the mental in my studying astronomy at London Society for Popular Astronomy, the Planetar- University and subsequently teaching the ium, and David Hinds Limited who brought subject to adults and children alike. It is impos- along some of their products, and very sible to measure the effect such voluntary kindly donated a Celestron 102 SLT tele- groups have on individuals, but I am sure that scope as first prize in the raffle. many young people have been inspired by viewing the moon, planets and stars through the society's telescopes. Swansea has one of the most wonderful Book signing. observatory locations in the UK—surely the Council and the Society can come to some The windy conditions did not deter the agreement that utilises the wonderful potential children and adults from making and of the tangible, and the intangible, aspects of launching water rockets in the grounds of this site. Woodrow, and completing a Quiz on paper Dr John Griffiths, F.R.A.S. Grove Park, London, South East of the Solar System which had been set up outside. The winner of the Quiz received a Hi Frank. A queue for the Planetarium show year’s membership to our Society. I have just read the leading article in the new issue of the FAS Newsletter. A member of our Society set up his tele- Our friends in Cornwall may be less than scope and computer equipment and pro- happy when the units described are erected. vided an astro image display. We also had I can comment from personal experience board and wall displays of members photo- having very similar fitments erupt along the graphs, and an archive folder showing past road at the rear of my property. Light spill lectures and practical evenings, observing rearwards of the lamp standard is considerable sessions, outings last year which included and the light output higher than the previ- visits to The Royal Observatory and ous long-tube exposed units. Herstmonceux, and Astrofest 2009 and the What I am experiencing here is a triumph Telescope 400 event at Syon Park in July this of ‘let’s light up as much ground as we can’ . Mr. Andrew Lound’s lecture year. Also included were reports and photo- - Oh and the road as well . graphs of our annual Gliding Evening at our The day was well attended, and we hope N Morrison local airfield, and Christmas Party and Quiz. was enjoyed by all. Chairman Crawley A.S. We were fortunate to have three excellent The event was kindly sponsored by a presentations from Lecturers who are regular grant from the Federation of Astronomical Yes - with these white lamps being about a quar- visitors to our Society. Professor Stuart Ma- Societies. ter the length of the old sodium ones, yet giving the same level of output, the lamp itself does lin who talked about the history of the Royal Jan Dell look very bright. So far I have had very little feed- Greenwich Observatory and past Astrono- www.wycombeastro.org.uk back from local astronomers. However in one instance, in Lostwithiel, the astronomer lives on the hill overlooking the town, which has just had the new lamps installed. He reports a significant reduction in light pollution. I suspect this is more due to the fact that the lamp holder directs the light downwards with very little upward component. I will watch the development and report in subsequent issues of the Newsletter. I am in discussion with the lamp manufacturer regarding what filters would best combat the worst effects of these lights (if any!!) and will also report on this as and when I get anything useful. I do not know how other local authorities will configure their new lights but for the lamps in Cornwall, the brightness can be adjusted on an individual lamp basis. So this leads to the possibil- ity of particularly troublesome lamps being turned down—always providing you can de- Water rocket making velop a good relationship with the department/ officer concerned. Editor

F.A.S. Newsletter 92 3 Winter 2009 However, they are also de- Heaven’s Touch scribed in a manner which is by James B. Kaler Book Reviews easily understood by anyone Princeton UniversityPress Watchers of the Stars ESBN 9780691129464 £16.95 with even the most basic of f you were to ask Mr. or scientific educations. by Sir Patrick Moore Mrs. Average of the planet Gravity, the unseen force that Third Edition ISBN: 978-1-904275-36-7 I Earth how celestial objects keeps our feet on the ground Publisher: Harwood Publishing Ltd £20.00 affect the world they live in, (most of the time) and holds This is the third edition of this book and after you might expect a few an- planets, stars, galaxies and reading it, I now realise what I must have swers like ‘the Sun provides even black holes together, missed by not reading either of the earlier light and warmth’ or ‘the affects the Earth in many editions. Moon makes tides’, or even ways. Tides, the seasons and ‘asteroids make holes in the long term changing climatic ground’. All of these are un- conditions, caused by lunar doubtedly true, but as this and solar orbits, are just a few book by James B. Kaler, pro- of the effects of gravity which fessor emeritus of astronomy at the Univer- are described in great detail. sity of Illinois, explains, this is but the tip of Cosmic particles and rays of numerous the iceberg. Planets, comets, stars, galaxies, types continue to bombard the Earth and supernovae and even the Big Bang itself, have done so in varying quantities for bil- have, for billions of years touched this ‘third lions of years. Some pass unnoticed, having rock from the Sun’ in ways few have ever almost no interaction with the atoms and considered, and their influence is by no molecules which make up the Earth and means over. ourselves, while others can have catastrophic Beginning with an overview of the type of effects. The numerous events and processes objects that are ‘out there’, the author which create these particles are described quickly journeys from our Sun, past the along with an explanation of what has hap- planets of the Solar System, out of the Milky pened in the past or may happen in the Way, past countless galaxies and galaxy clus- future which could, quite literally, be Earth ters and out to the far reaches of the uni- shattering. There is even speculation that verse. Along the way, darkness, in the form without these far reaching effects, life itself of dark matter and energy, is briefly consid- may never have arisen. ered and all the while our attention is drawn Collisions and explosions, the creation of not only to the astronomical distances in- chemical elements and the ‘disappearance’ volved but also the colossal length of time it of matter into black holes are all topics cov- would take to undertake such a journey. ered with great enthusiasm and humour. How then, could any of these have any effect Written in a style which reduces complex Having set the scene in the first two chap- on the Earth? processes into manageable bites, yet contain- ters, Patrick Moore takes us through the To answer that question requires a man ing numerous facts and figures, this book ‘golden era’ of observation and experimenta- of James Kaler’s knowledge and experience. works well as good read and will also per- tion—starting with Nicholaus Copernicus. Having published over 120 papers in his form as a reference book, allowing the reader Up to Copernicus and for quite a few dec- main research area of dying stars and written to dip in and out if a short explanation of a ades after, the official understanding of the several books on the subject of the cosmos particular event is required. Overall this is a workings of the Universe was based on the and the universe, it is no surprise that the well written, eye opening account of how we Earth-centric system. This was based on an author’s explanations of the processes which are affected by Heaven’s Touch. amalgam of ‘free thinking’, religious cant and a occur throughout the heavens are detailed. Phil Brotherwood ruthless determination to maintain the status quo. The lives and works of the subjects of this The Sky Handbook protects us from oblivion book, namely Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Johan- is reviewed with a strong by John Watson and Michael environmental message. nes Kepler, Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton Kerrigan are covered together with the inevitable con- ISBN978-1-887354-63-9 £14.99 Look after our home it is frontation with the establishment. Publisher: Saraband the only one we have. Each of the principal characters is put into t is not often that we come across Watson confirms that context describing the intellectual and physical I a book that is as different as the every snow crystal is environment of his time. This is done by many Sky Handbook - John Watson takes unique even though it is anecdotes, illustrations and even tittle-tattle of a holistic approach to his astron- based on a basic hexa- the time. omy. gon. The meticulous attention to detail required There is a distinct lack of techni- Clearly a book like this in observation, calculation and consideration cal astrophysics and a focus on plac- cannot avoid mentioning ing astronomy in an historical context. The of theories to satisfy the observed data is cov- climate change which is covered carefully. It book starts with a review of the megaliths to ered extensively, in a very readable and even also includes the effect of global dimming be found in the UK before moving on to entertaining manner. which is holding back global warming. Finally the whole thing is tied together in a early views of cosmology around the world The constellations are given good cover- Should this brake be released then the rise more modern context of where our knowledge age, not just using the standard maps to be in temperature could cause the methane is today. found in every book in the basic genre but clathrates to break down causing untold Whilst much of this book is already know also including images from antique maps, problems for Planet Earth. to most amateur astronomers and even the Greek history and legend are given a good This is not a first book for the novice general public, there is still a great deal to be airing. The solar system is well covered reach- astronomer but it is one that should find its learned in it. Not least the tying up of many ing out to the Oort Cloud and including place on the bookshelf of astronomers wish- historical loose ends. comets and meteors. ing to have a wider view of our place in the Well worth the price. Our atmosphere, that thin blue band that grand scheme of things. Chris Bunn appears in space images – the bubble that Brian Sheen

F.A.S. Newsletter 92 4 Winter 2009 Newton’s Notebook - The Life, Times and Discoveries of By Joel Levy ISBN: 9780752454931 £11.69 The History Press / Quid Publishing

his is a biography of the life of Isaac tion to practical tests that led him to T Newton, but rather like no other in poke a bodkin behind his eye to check that it is written and designed in the on colour changes in what he was look- form of a personal notebook or diary. ing at. The reader is taken from his early days His subsequent career in inventing born into a farming family soon after his calculus, discovering gravity and many father had died. When he was at school other facets of what interested him is in Grantham he lodged with an apothe- covered in good detail as well as his con- cary, John Clark, during which time his siderable efforts on optics—for which was scientific interest was nurtured—and amateur astronomers are eternally grate- more importantly convinced him that ful. farming was not his true metier. By judicious quoting from his own Then to Cambridge University—not as journals and the inclusion of many direct a privileged scholar but as a subsizar— quotations, Newton’s Notebook, brings the effectively a servant. However his atten- life of Isaac Newton more clear and un- written dialogue left me feeling a deeper tion to detail took him forward in spite derstandable than any other book I have understanding of the man and his many of the arcane approach to learning at read about him fine achievements. Cambridge in those days. Isaac took on The design layout and the illustrations Would grace any bookshelf. the likes of Descartes, and was successful are key elements in making this book so Jamie Quest mainly because of his unshakeable belief memorable, in that the direct extracts of p.s. There is a sister volume—Darwin’s Notebook in experimentation. It was this dedica- his work together with the excellently A Simple Solution to Equipment Review taking Flats

o get good images ,when doing astro- The EL sheet is fitted with a socket into Photo 2 T photography, it is necessary to take dark, which a switched unit is plugged. This bias and flat frames. These go some way to switched unit has a socket to accept 12 volt. removing the inevitable noise, dust motes and Also supplied is a mains to 12v plug. This other artefacts. means that it can be mains operated or by 12v Dark and bias frames are easy as they only in the field. require the fitting of the lens cap. Flats on the Whilst the EL sheet can be used as sup- other hand are a little more of a problem as plied I felt that it is a little too flexible for my they require images to be taken of an evenly requirements and for large sheets would lit surface with exactly the same light-train surely require some support. I bought an A5 configuration as the light frames, i.e. a change sized unit and sandwiched the EL between of filter requires it own flat frame. some stiff plastic sheet, as will be seen in relatively small sheet, it is felt that a test on a The main problem is getting the evenly lit photo 1. The small blocks are used to ensure much larger sheet should be undertaken to surface to image. the unit holds onto the end of the scope. fully evaluate this product. Accordingly I con- One of the best methods is to use the clear tacted the supplier, Chris Whitelock, and he sky—just as it is getting light before sunrise. provided an A3 sized EL sheet. This is being However we all know the problems with this!! tested by Darryl Sergison at his observatory on Another method is to stretch a white cloth, St Dennis, Cornwall. However the very poor such as a t-shirt, over the front of the scope, weather over the past few weeks has interfered using dawn light or something similar. Others and so his test report will have to be held over construct a light box—but all these can be to the Spring issue. either unreliable, bulky or awkward to use. I will await this report with interest as I am In my case my refractor extends almost to in need of a flat solution for my C9.25. the surface of the dome and so to use my At the time of writing this piece the EL homemade light box I have to ensure the Photo 1 sheets are only available in paper sizes, i.e. A5, dome slot is exactly in the right place. A4, etc. However the supplier has been asked However I think there is an inexpensive if it will be possible for them to be available in and easy solution to this situation. Photo 2 shows the light unit on the end of square format—although the sheets can be cut I came across a material called Electro- the 120mm refractor. to any size. Luminescent (EL) light sheets. EL is essen- In practice it is a simple matter of drop- The A5 sheet cost me £24.97 + £4.85 tially a flat, flexible light bulb. It consist of a ping the unit on the scope after taking the p&p. sandwich type structure containing two layers light frames and then taking the flats, before Check out the supplier’s website for more of electrodes with a middle layer of phosphor. either changing to a different filter—or mov- information: When a current is applied across these layers ing to a different target. www.posterpoweruk.co.uk/av the phosphor emits light. Whilst this gave very good results using a Frank Johns

F.A.S. Newsletter 92 5 Winter 2009 Weekend weather in Derby fails to dampen Astronomy weekend - or people's enthusiasm.

erby & District Astronomical Society a pleasure working with Derby and District “We had an encouraging level of interest D and Skylark Holidays celebrated the Astronomical Society to visit their Observa- and understand there are not many courses International Year of Astronomy with the tory which added that “extra special bit of like this “said Paul Hunt, “So we will be add- launch of an “Astronomy for Enthusiatic interest” for our customers. Everybody appre- ing more to our Programme” Beginners” over a weekend. ciated the efforts of Society members, An- Despite the stormy wet weather of the thony Southwell and Mike Lancaster for turn- The Flamsteed Observatory of Derby AS weekend of 13 – 15 November, Derbyshire ing out in such mucky weather to open up based Skylark Holidays successfully held an and give a talk about the observatory. Their Astronomy weekend that included a visit to friendly approach to Astronomy nurtured the Derby and District Astronomical Society's peoples interest” Flamsteed Observatory. Observation time was subject to weather The company and the Society had teamed conditions but a contingency plan of project- up to pilot the weekend course as a way of ing a planetarium on to an indoor wall was introducing people to Astronomy and to welcomed by customers on Friday evening. contribute towards the objectives of the Inter- Commenting on the weather Mark White- national Year of Astronomy. The course, house said “ The wind and rain made it which was fully booked, was a combination of touch-and-go and we were all disappointed tuition and practical observation. Expert that cloud cover prevented seeing anything Skylark Holidays offer a range of weekend Mark Whitehouse explained how to find and from the Flamsteed Observatory. However I and midweek breaks including activities such as photography, wine appreciation, walking, spin- identify different planets, described which was relieved when we got back to our venue at ning and weaving. constellations could be seen in the night sky Windlehill Farm to find the skies had cleared The full programme is available at: and customers were shown how to use differ- enough to get some great views of Jupiter with www.skylarkholidays.co.uk ent telescopes. it moons, numerous constellations including or email: [email protected] Paul Hunt of Skylark Holidays said “It was Pegasus and Orion and stars like Vega.

A Wonderful Evening he Society held this year's William Lassell the well know solar, lunar and planetary ob- T Memorial Lecture for the first time in its server Harold Hill, Eric began recording solar new monthly meeting venue of the Quaker observations in the form of sketching, pro- Meeting House (QMH) , School Lane, Liver- gressing to hydrogen-alpha, film, and was one pool on October 16th . The evening was al- of the first to submit CCD imaging observa- ready a special occasion, for the fact that the tions once digital technology was available to guest for the meeting was the accomplished the amateur. Eric has been a member of the speaker and well known science historian Dr Liverpool Astronomical Society for over forty Allan Chapman of Oxford University. His years, and serve as the Society President dur- subject being the history of the telescope, and ing its Centenary year in 1981. On October how over 400 years, it has changed human 21st 2009 Eric celebrated his 95th birthday, understanding of the Science of Astronomy and it is only due to the unavoidable effects of However the evening was made extra spe- his grand old age that he has now been force ment. He has also travelled the world to chase cial by the Society presenting a recognition to give up active observations. As he himself 13 total solar eclipses, and to record the illu- gift to long time member Eric Strach, and a has said:- sive shadow bands. With his loving, & sup- Presentation to both Eric and his wife Marga- Sadly the Sun no longer calls to me portive wife Margaret always at his side. Dur- ret being made by Dr Chapman during the It is indeed a remarkable achievement, for ing this time he has continually submitted evening. Eric, that he has continued to be so devoted observations to the BAA, and to the Society's Eric has been a devoted solar observer to observing our nearest star on an almost newsletter, and has been the author of many since the 1950's, and under the guidance of daily basis for thirty years following retire- papers, and observational guides. He has also been a devoted supporter of the aims of the Liverpool Astronomical Society, and its pro- motion in the UK and beyond. Indeed it was Eric who was instrumental in the Liverpool society forging strong links with the Vlasim Astronomical Society in the Czech Republic, Eric's homeland. He has and will continue to be an inspiration to all amateur astronomers, no matter what branch of astronomy they are interested in following. The gift is in the form of a crystal Sun- Sculpture, manufactured and kindly supplied by The Crystal Nebulae Company of Notting- ham which depicts the active sun on October 21st in the year 2000. The monthly date being Eric's birthday! Image of sculpture used with kind permission © Crystal Nebulae Gerard Gilligan The Presentation being Made to Eric Strach by Dr Allan Chapman on Be- half of the Liverpool Astronomical Society – QMH 2009 October 16th. Courtesy LAS Newsletter

F.A.S. Newsletter 92 6 Winter 2009 WIGG ISLAND COMMUNITY PARK ASTRONOMY EVENING FRI 30 OCTOBER 2009

arrived, with Geoff Regan, at about 19:00. We I decided not to bring any telescopes as the weather looked likely to be very cloudy, with a fore- cast of lots of rain in the next few hours. Thank- fully, some of our other members did bring tele- scopes.! Jim Stacey set up his Celestron C6 GoTo tele- scope. Lawrence Ashworth set up his 4 inch refrac- tor and Dave Bentley set up his 85mm refractor. Graham Roberts had placed some direction signs on the route to this relatively obscure location. Graham had also saved a convenient parking place for my car. We were amazed that we had about 90 visitors for this event.

The Wigg Island Ranger “Ged” had opened up the building quite early to allow some of our early arrivals to set up display equipment - mainly our Laptop PC and PC projector. Brendan Martin started his talk, "My Favourite Objects Through a Telescope", at about 19:10. By 19:19 the room was so packed that the 49 chairs were not enough and several people were standing at the back of the room. Brendan finished his talk at 19:30 and answered questions for about 10 min- utes. We then started a 20 minute tea/coffee break - thanks to the Rangers for providing this. At 19:46 Graham Roberts announced that, as it was cloudy, several telescopes were looking across the River Mersey. Most of the children quickly ran outside but a bit of rain arrived a few minutes later. Geoff Regan started his talk, "Our Place in Space", at about 20:00. He finished at 20:40 and then spent another 10 minutes answering ques- tions. We then started to pack our telescopes away. Other LAS members that I spotted at this event were: Graham Rigby, Jim Stacey, Alan Dennott, Jim EVENT PICTURES by Jim Stacey: Lawler and Pam McAdams.

F.A.S. Newsletter 92 7 Winter 2009 HERSTMONCEUX 2009 Herstmonceux Science Centre Photo Jan Young Jan Young n Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th September Herstmonceux O Science Centre held their usual successful open weekend with a programme of lectures, visits to the domes, trade stands (including a beer tent) and an area dedicated to local Astronomy Societies where SAGAS had a stand alongside the Society for Popular Astronomy and several other SAGAS societies, Wealden, East Sussex, Eastbourne, with Basingstoke, Cody and Worthing Astronomers representatives on the SAGAS stand itself. The display boards recently purchased by SAGAS were put into There were a couple of other societies present who at the time of good use, as was the even more recently purchased Lunar Globe. writing are not members of SAGAS, but hopefully a bit of friendly Camping was available once again in the grounds as in previous persuasion may have encouraged them to join in the not so distant years, with the exception that for once, this year, the skies were clear future. overnight. There were comments on the Sunday about the exceptional clarity of the previous night. Phil Alner from Cody seemed to be enjoying himself with various scientific and interesting ‘toys’! As was usual the venue was visited by the local team of Storm- Troopers on leave from fighting wars in a Galaxy far, far, away.

Phil Alner Cody, Brian Halls Worthing Astronomers & the SAGAS stand. Photo Jan Young

East Sussex AS Photo Jan Young

SAGAS Globe Photo Jan Young

SPA Stand Photo Jan Young

Eastbourne AS Stand Photo Jan Young

F.A.S. Newsletter 92 8 Winter 2009 To confirm the difficulty of observing the Multi-wavelength Astronomy By Brian Finney unknown and unseen by the eye, whilst Voy- agers 1 and 2 were the first to encounter the The new Astronomy termination shock, they passed either side of this ribbon of bright emissions without seeing IBEX, or Interstellar Boundary Explorer, is The Voyager 1 spacecraft was the first to it. Both Voyager spacecraft are now in the the latest in NASA's series of low-cost, rapidly encounter this invisible shock formed as the midst of the region where the energetic neu- developed Small Explorers Program and it is solar wind piles up against the gas in interstel- tral atoms (ENAs) originate. now producing results – as always size is not lar space. This boundary, called the termina- Further reading: everything! In IBEX’s case not only is the tion shock, marks the beginning of our solar http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003600/ budget small (in space exploration terms) but system’s final frontier. It is the twisting mag- a003635/ the instrument itself is only 23 inches high x netic fields in this termination shock region www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ibex/ allsky_pressrelease.html 38 inches across and octagonal shaped. It has that protects all the planets from the majority http://www.nasa.gov/ discovered a ribbon of high energy emissions of the harmful cosmic rays produced in space. pdf/280255main_IBEXFactSheetOct08.pdf – energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) - at the edge IBEX needs to go beyond the region of http://www.ibex.swri.edu/students/ of the solar system that Voyagers 1 and 2 had space controlled by Earth’s magnetic field, the What_are_energetic_neutral.shtml passed either side of as shown in the image magnetosphere, because this region generates below. (See background article to better un- radiation and the same high-speed atoms Background to the IBEX article Image derstand the shape of the all sky view below) (Energetic Neutral Atoms or ENAs) that Projection of a Spherical Image on to IBEX will use to a Flat Surface make its pictures. To NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scien- avoid contamination tific Visualization Studio has produced a use- from local ENAs ful visualisation of how the 360 degree sky produced in the views from IBEX has been projected as a flat magnetosphere, surface ie the page. It has been reproduced IBEX’s orbit took it below in the hope that it helps with the fore- up to 200,000 miles going IBEX article and image. from Earth to view the termination shock which is bil- lions of miles from Earth. So what are these Energetic Neutral Atoms – these Consider our Solar system as one body ENAs? They are atoms with no charge that moving through space and orbiting about our move relatively fast. Previously they had been The IBEX craft is inside and at the centre of galactic centre, ie the centre of the Milky Way ionised by the loss of an electron giving them the sphere (the sky) taking images. it will take about 250 million years to com- an electrical charge that would cause them to plete one orbit at a speed of approximately be accelerated in a magnetic field. Once at 220km/sec or 500,000 mph. Unsurprisingly, speed they gain an electron by collision with at that speed a body the size of the solar sys- other neutral atoms by a process called charge tem with its associated magnetic fields will exchange thereby becoming neutral them- produce a shock wave in the interstellar me- selves but still maintaining their velocity in a dium even though the interstellar medium is straight line from the point of interaction. They continues in a straight line after inter- The sphere is split and begins to peel back action because the atom now has no charge and is therefore unaffected by magnetic fields and at the same velocity because its mass is largely unchanged; a proton at the centre of the atom is 1836 times heavier than the added The sphere opens further electron. ENAs travel at speeds between 100,000 mph to more than 2.4 million mph. Some of almost a vacuum. these ENAs happen to travel in just the right The orange gas in the image above repre- way so that they enter the IBEX spacecraft for sents the interstellar medium of our Milky collection at a rate of between 1 per hour and Way. The bow shock, labelled ‘nose’ in the all a few per minute to produce the image above. sky image above, is created because the helio- The IBEX data was complemented and ex- The sphere is now fully flat on the page – sphere is moving through like a boat through tended by information collected using an hence the shape of all-sky images the water, crashing through the interstellar imaging instrument sensor on NASA's Cas- gases. The bright spot represents the Sun at sini spacecraft. the centre of our solar system. Courtesy: L.A.S. News Circular Dec 2009

F.A.S. Newsletter 92 9 Winter 2009 SAGAS SEPTEMBER LECTURE REVIEW Speaker: Dr Mike Leggett FRAS FBIS Subject: Microwave Astronomy ike began his talk by outlining the areas M he would cover. He stated that the the aperture synthesis method of interferome- an aperture the size of the Earth. It could be cosmic microwave background is a major part try to enable images to be produced from possible to make it even longer by putting of microwave astronomy, but by no means all multiple telescopes, with the same angular radio telescopes into space. of it. resolution as one telescope as large as all of Mike next talked about the cosmic micro- Microwave astronomy is an astronomical them. wave background. He explained that the ques- study of radio waves. It consists of sub- The Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto tion of whether the universe is static or evolv- millimetre wave astronomy, millimetre wave Rico is the largest radio telescope in the world ing has been an important one in cosmology, astronomy, radar astronomy and radio astron- but it cannot move and therefore can only be and that microwave astronomy has been a key omy. The principal areas of study are interstel- used to observe a limited area of the sky. part in answering this. In 1915 Einstein’s lar molecules, the cosmic microwave back- Mike next went through some of the im- General Theory of Relativity proposed a static ground, astrometry by radar, and observations portant discoveries that were made in the universe, having a constant density with time. on radio sources (radio galaxies, quasars, pul- field of microwave astronomy. In 1931 Karl In 1917 Willem de Sitter applied the General sars etc.). Radar astronomy is very useful for Jansky, of Bell Labs, detected weak radio emis- Theory of Relativity to a universe with a non- establishing distances to objects and position- sions coming from the Milky Way. In 1942 constant density with time. Space expands ing. J.S. Hey and others detected radio waves com- and a form of 'red shift' is observed. In 1922 The wavelength is the distance travelled by ing from the Sun. Later, radio waves were also Alexander Friedmann, in Petrograd, discov- a wave during a complete cycle. The frequency detected coming from Venus. ered a class of evolving universes that pro- is the number of times that the cycle repeats Around the same time Ryle, Smith and vided a solution to problems posed by the per second. This is measured in Hertz. The Elsmore surveyed northern hemisphere radio General Theory of Relativity. wavelength and the frequency are propor- stars. In 1955 Burke & Franklin studied radio In 1912 Vesto Melvin Slipher was the first tional to each other. As the wavelength in- emissions coming from Jupiter. Finally, in to observe the galactic 'red shift' in the spec- creases, the frequency decreases. As the wave- 1967 Jocelyn Bell and Antony Hewish discov- tral lines of galaxies, interpreted as the Dop- length decreases, the frequency increases. ered the first pulsar, CP1919. This is a rapidly pler effect. Newton observed white light being passing -rotating, regular pulsar and is identified as a In 1923 Edwin Hubble’s observations of through a glass prism and being split into the neutron star. individual stars in M31confirmed that it is a colours of the rainbow. Mike showed the solar Sub-millimetre wave astronomy is con- separate galaxy. Hubble's Law (1929), postu- spectrum with this effect. cerned with wavelengths between 0.3mm and lated by Hubble and Milton Humason devel- Mike next introduced the concept of the 3mm. In this branch of microwave astronomy oped the expanding universe theory. electromagnetic spectrum. William Herschel radio and infrared techniques are combined. In 1930 Arthur Stanley Eddington de- observed that there must be something be- Observational studies of the cosmic micro- clared that the static universe was inherently yond the visible spectrum and deduced the wave background are best carried out from unstable. In 1927 Georges-Henri existence of infra-red. Others later deduced locations that are both high and dry. Exam- Lemaitre proposed what became the Big the existence of the ultra-violet range. ples of telescopes where this is carried out are Bang theory with his 'hypothesis of the prime- Within the microwave range, sub- the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) val atom'. In this, the first stage is the big millimetre wavelengths should perhaps be and the Caltech Submillimetre Observatory bang, the second is a static phase and the part of the infra-red range, rather than the (CSO), both located in Mauna Kea, Hawaii. third is indefinite expansion. radio window as it overlaps the two ranges. The JCMT has a Cassegrain design and is In 1946 George Gamow, Ralph Alpher Shorter wavelengths are absorbed by the alt-azimuth mounted. It has a 15-metre an- and Robert Herman developed the Big Bang Earth's atmosphere. Longer wavelength radio tenna of 276 light adjustable panels, and a theory. In 1948 Alpher and Herman pre- waves are blocked by it. woven Teflon membrane. dicted the background radiation to have a Mike took us through the history of radio Millimetre wave astronomy is concerned temperature of 5 Kelvin. In contrast to this astronomy from 1888. with wavelengths of between 1mm and 10m, theory Fred Hoyle, Hermann Bondi and Tho- In 1888 Hertz discovered radio waves and so there is some overlap with the submillime- mas Gold proposed the Steady State theory, demonstrated that they can be reflected, re- tre wavelengths. This branch of microwave having found heavy elements in the hot interi- fracted, diffracted and polarised as with other astronomy is useful for studying spectra rich ors of stars. This was a setback for the Big forms of radiation. Marconi harnessed this in lines from complex interstellar molecules. Bang theory. and the government became interested in its Radio astronomy is concerned with radio In the 1960s Ryle surveyed radio galaxies practical applications. Marconi sent the first waves emanating from the Sun, Jupiter, qua- and found that they were more common in radio transmission across the English Chan- sars, pulsars and radio galaxies. Emissions the past. This discovery conflicted with the nel in 1899 and across the Atlantic Ocean in with frequencies between 10MHz and Steady State theory. 1901. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 300GHz are observed using radio telescopes. In the early 1960s Dicke proposed the idea 1909. Mike spoke about components, the fre- of oscillating universes, in effect successions The British Air Ministry became interested quency range and techniques used in radio of 'big bangs' followed by 'big crunches'. in work carried out by Robert Watson-Watt astronomy. There are two main types of radio In about 1960 a 20ft horn antenna was in the use of radio for the detection of thun- telescopes. These are single steerable dishes constructed at Bell Labs in Holmdel, New derstorms. From this a radar system for air- (such as that at Arecibo and the Lovell Tele- Jersey as part of Project Echo, a communica- craft detection was developed. Five microwave scope at Jodrell Bank) and radio interferome- tions satellite project. In 1964, Arno Penzias radar stations were established. ters. Single steerable dishes have a maximum and Robert Wilson, using the 20ft horn an- In 1937 Grote Reber built the first radio diameter of 100m, and have poor angular tenna, measured the radio signal at a wave- telescope in Illinois using the 23cm radio resolution. length of 7.35cm and found it had a tempera- band. In 1946 Robert Dicke developed a The Lovell Telescope is also one of several ture of 3.5 Kelvin. They had been expecting a radiometer for measuring sky microwaves and in the UK that are linked in an interferometer temperature of 0 Kelvin, and had even cleared Martin Ryle built the first radio interferome- network called MERLIN. An even larger in- pigeon droppings from the antenna in an ter. terferometer is created by linking MERLIN to effort to explain the unexpected readings, but In 1957 the 76-metre Lovell radio tele- the European VLBI Network (EVN). VLBI the readings were found to be definitely due scope at Jodrell Bank was completed. In 1960 stands for Very Long Baseline Interferometry. to the cosmos. From their work, Penzias and Martin Ryle and Antony Hewish developed Such networks are, or can be, linked to give

F.A.S. Newsletter 92 10 Winter 2009 Wilson, plus Dicke, had identified the Mike spoke next about energy level transi- Books cosmic microwave background. tions. Microwave spectroscopy is the best tool • Anon, Exploring the Universe with MERLIN, Also in 1964, David Wilkinson and Peter for the study of interstellar molecules. If more Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories, 1995 Roll constructed a small radio telescope to than one atom is present, molecules can ro- • Marcus Chown, Afterglow of creation: From detect the microwave background. In Decem- tate about an axis. the fireball to the discovery of cosmic ripples, ber 1965 they measured the microwave back- Molecular line radio astronomy is the Arrow, 1993 ground at a wavelength of 3.2m and found a study of spectral lines emitted by interstellar • Stuart Clark, Redshift, University of Hertford- temperature of about 3 Kelvin. clouds. This study is subdivided into diffuse shire Press, 1997 By mid 1966 they had obtained a value of clouds and molecular clouds, the latter being • Stuart Clark, Towards the Edge of the Uni- 3 Kelvin from wavelengths from 21cm to further subdivided into small and giant verse: A Review of Modern Cosmology, John 26m. Wavelengths in the millimeter and sub- clouds. Wiley/Wiley-Praxis Series in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 1997 millimetre ranges were more difficult to study. Diffuse molecular clouds are found at high • Later Wilkinson measured the smoothness of galactic latitudes. Charles R Cowley, An Introduction to Cosmo- chemistry, Cambridge UP, 1995 the cosmic microwave background from a Of the molecular clouds, the small-types • better location in the Arizona desert. Nigel Henbest & Michael Marten, The New mostly contain molecular hydrogen (H2). Astronomy, Cambridge UP, 2nd edition, 1996 Mike briefly discussed black body radia- Giant molecular clouds are abundant with • Mark H Jones & Robert J A Lambourne (eds), tion. Black bodies are perfect absorbers of CO, with some ammonia and H2. There is a An Introduction to Galaxies and Cosmology, radiation that do not reflect or lose any of giant molecular cloud behind the optically OU/Cambridge UP, 2004 what they receive. As they heat up, they ini- visible Orion nebula. • Dr Tony Jones, The Lovell Telescope at Jodrell tially emit infra-red radiation (we feel the heat W.S. Adams discovered carbon dioxide in Bank, Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories, from a cooker), but as the heat increases the the infra-red spectrum of Venus in about 1995 colours appear, red first then orange etc. 1935. In the 1940s Andrew McKellar calcu- • David, Ian, John & Margaret Millar, The Cam- Eventually the object would appear white hot. lated the temperature of interstellar space to bridge Dictionary of Scientists, Cambridge UP, Planck's black body radiation law relates to be about 2.4 Kelvin. Before 1963 only a few 1996 electromagnetic radiation emanating from a simple molecules, such as methylidyne (CH) • Iain Nicolson, Dark Side of the Universe: Dark black body at specific temperatures. The early and cyanogens had been found in space, but Matter, Dark Energy, and the Fate of the Cos- universe was hot, but the red shifts observed then hydroxyls were discovered by Jodrell mos, Canopus, 2007 are not really the Doppler effect - space itself Bank. In the late 1960s Iosif Shklovski discov- • Douglas A Skoog & Donald M West, Princi- is expanding. ered ammonia molecules in molecular clouds. ples of Instrumental Analysis, Holt-Saunders This was followed in 1969 by the identifica- International Editions, 2nd edition, 1980 The microwave background can be meas- • ured using a small radio telescope and a Dicke tion of water, formaldehyde and carbon mon- M Talevi, J Tauber & T Passvogel (co- oxide molecules. Since then more than 120 ordinators), Planck: Looking back to the dawn switch, as had been used by Penzias and Wil- of time, ESA, BR-275, February 2009 son at Holmdel. Another way of measuring further molecules have been identified. • Monica Talevi (co-ordinator), Monica Salome the cosmic background radiation is to use a The SWAS (Sub-millimetre Wave Astro- & Jan Tauber (compilers), Planck: A Mission bolometer. nomical Satellite) mission was launched in to Understand the origin and Evolution of our Interferometers were used from the late December 1998 and was active in examining Universe, ESA, BR-159, 2006 1970s. Balloons, aircraft, rockets and satellites microwaves from water, molecular oxygen, • Gareth Wynn-Williams, The Fullness of Space: have all been used as well. Air observation atomic carbon and carbon monoxide in inter- nebulae, stardust, and the interstellar medium, indicated that the Milky Way was flying stellar clouds, until 2004. It was then re- Cambridge UP, 1992 through the cosmic microwave background in activated in 2005 in order to observe the Papers & Articles the direction of Leo. Deep Impact Probe's collision with Comet P/ • Edwin Bergin, Chemistry in the Void, Chemis- In 1983 a Russian probe, Relikt-1, had Tempel 1. try and Industry, 15 October 2001, pp658 - Finally, Mike spoke about the search for 662 mapped most of the sky at 37GHz and then • in 1989 COBE (the Cosmic Background the extra-terrestrial intelligence (SETI). H.C. Gerald Crone, Anders Elfving, Thomas Passvo- gel, Göran Pilbratt & Jan Tauber, Unveiling Explorer) was launched. This was a NASA van de Hulst had predicted the existence of interstellar hydrogen. In 1951 Edward Purcell the Universe: Two Missions to Unlock the mission. Its experiments included the DMR Secrets of the Cold Cosmos [Herschel & (Differential Microwave Radiometer), which and Harold Ewen detected it. Planck], ESA Bulletin, 128, November 2006, would map the microwave sky and FIRAS, In 1959 Giuseppe Cocconi and Philip pp11 – 17 which was intended to found out whether the Morrison first discussed the idea of searching Websites cosmic microwave background has the pre- for extraterrestrial life. In 1960 Frank Drake • ESA Planck: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/ dicted spectrum. initiated the first search by radio telescope, Planck/index.html The mission result was that COBE pro- concentrated on Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eri- http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/ dani. A large amount of the work in this field index.cfm?fareaid=17 duced an all-sky map from 2 years of data. • Ripples were found in the cosmic microwave is concentrated on the 'waterhole' region of James Clerk Maxwell Telescope http:// the microwave window, wavelengths between www.jach.hawaii.edu/JCMT/ background. The emergence of structure was • deduced - the basis for formation of galaxies. about 18cm, at which hydroxyl radiates, and Jodrell Bank http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/ FIRAS achieved the most accurate reading for 21cm, at which hydrogen radiates. As the • NASA Cosmic Times http:// the cosmic microwave background. A third combination of these two forms water, this cosmictimes.gsfc.nasa.gov/1965/guide/ experiment, DIRBE, took images in infrared range is deemed to be the primary target for murmur.html of comets, galaxies and star-forming regions. the search for extraterrestrial life. • NASA Legacy Archive for Microwave Back- At the conclusion of his extremely compre- ground Data Analysis (LAMBDA) In 2001 the WMAP (Wilkinson Micro- • wave Anisotropy Probe) mission was hensive talk, Mike outlined how microwave Information about COBE and other micro- astronomy had helped us to understand the wave and IR satellites: http:// launched. This had 45 times more sensitivity lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/ than COBE, and 33 times the angular resolu- evolution of the universe from the big bang • NASA Missions: http:// tion. It was able to obtain full sky coverage in leading to a dark age (opaque universe), fol- nasascience.nasa.gov/missions/ 5 wavelengths. lowed by the first light of the early stars and then on to the visible universe. • Submillimetre Wave Astronomy Satellite Another mission, Planck, was launched in (SWAS): http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/swas/ May 2009, with the intention of further study- Richard Godley swas.html ing the cosmic microwave background. Planck • Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe: has superior sensitivity, angular resolution http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/ and frequency range. It is making specific For those interested in reading further, the investigations into rotational energy levels. reference list provided by Mike included:

F.A.S. Newsletter 92 11 Winter 2009 The angular size of the object is a and the diameter of the image is d. IMAGE SAMPLING by Trefor Harries From Fig. 1 : tan ( a / 2 ) = ( d / 2 ) / F hen projecting an image onto a CCD for astrophotography W one question that naturally arises is how big to make the im- so d = 2 F tan ( a / 2 ) …….……...…..... (1) age. It might seem desirable to make it as big as possible so as to mini- For small angles this can be approximated to a simpler expression : mise the subsequent enlargement required but there are some obvious d = a F (a in rads) ………... (2) snags to this. The maximum possible image size is that which would exactly fill the CCD sensor, but any drift in the image position would or : d = a F / 57.3 (a in degrees) ….... (3) result in part of the image being lost off the frame which could not be Sensor Field Of View at Prime Focus recovered during the alignment and stacking stage of any post- Another parameter that is sometimes used is the angular field of view processing. This problem will be compounded by the fact that a large of the CCD sensor at prime focus. Transposing equation (1) and image will also be a dim one since it requires a high magnification, substituting a for a and L for d : which in turn means a long exposure time requiring more accurate sens sens tracking. Add to this the other drawbacks of high magnification, asens = 2 arctan [ Lsens / (2F) ]………………...…..…. (4) namely the extra demands put on the optics, and the effects of less- or, using equation (3) : than-perfect seeing conditions. As the image size is reduced however, asens = 57.3 Lsens / F degrees ……………...……….. (5) it occupies fewer photosites on the sensor array, limiting the ultimate resolution attainable, and requiring more enlargement. So how Field Of View Of A Single Pixel should the optimum image scale be determined ? This is the question It will also be useful sometimes to consider the angular field of view of addressed here. In order to answer it we must consider the capabili- a single photosite (pixel) on the sensor. ties of the telescope, the nature of the resulting image and the limita- Pixel size = Sensor size / Number of pixels (for horizontal or tions of the detector. The effect of atmospheric turbulence is another vertical dimensions) influence. L = L / N First, let’s define some of the parameters which will be used : pix sens pix aairy Angular diameter of Airy disc (radians) to first dark diffraction ring Putting this into equation (5) and substituting apix for asens : dairy Linear diameter of Airy disc to first dark diffraction ring l Wavelength of light (taken as 700 nm) apix = 57.3 Lsens / (F Npix) or A Aperture of telescope apix = 57.3 Lpix / F …………………………..…...... (6) F Focal length of telescope f Focal ratio of telescope (= F/A) Image Characteristics d Diameter of image on CCD sensor Since we are interested in the quality of the final image, i.e. the resolu- W Width of sensor sens tion, we must investigate the limits to the smallest level of detail Hsens Height of sensor achievable. To pursue this lets consider the effects on an ideal point Wpix Width of sensor pixel = Wsens / Nwpix Hpix Height of sensor pixel = Hsens / Nhpix source of light such as might be represented by a very faint star. Nwpix Number of width pixels Due to the wave aspect of the nature of light a point source of light Nhpix Number of height pixels can never be perfectly preserved in an optical system since the process a Angular diameter of object o of focusing rays from different light paths can never eliminate the a Angular field of view of sensor sens inevitable phase differences. The end effect is that when a point apix Angular field of view of sensor pixel Lsens Size of sensor source of light is imaged by a lens or mirror the result is not a pin- Lpix Size of pixel prick spot of illumination but a circular area of variable brightness

Npix Number of pixels across sensor (horizontal or vertical) known as an Airy disc. This has a well characterised distribution of Next, we consider some useful preliminary aspects. These are to do brightness as shown in figure 1 : with the image size at prime focus and the angular field of view at various levels. After this we will consider some characteristics of the Fig. 2 Airy Disc image formed at the prime focus by the objective lens or mirror and see how this provides a criteria for establishing an optimum image scale on the sensor. Image Size at Prime Focus The first thing we will investigate is the image size at prime focus since this is first technique to consider when deciding how to obtain a pho- tograph.

Characteristics Of The airy disc

aairy = 2.44 l radians A

dairy = 2.44 lF = 2.44lf metres A Fig. 1 : Image size at prime focus a = 1.02l radians ……………………...... (7) Fig. 1 shows a lens of focal length F projecting a prime focus image FWHM A onto the focal plane.

F.A.S. Newsletter 92 12 Winter 2009 dFWHM = 1.02 lF = 1.02lf metres ………………... (8) the degradation of the image due to optics, atmospherics etc., as this A is a rather indeterminate contribution, and equate the point spread to CCD Sampling And The Point Spread Function the diameter of the Airy disc, i.e. dPSF dFWHM. The number of point (Focal length for critical sampling) spread diameters (let’s call them ‘points’), Np, contained in the image diameter, d , will be : Some more parameters : i Np = di / dFWHM which from (3) and (8) is : Nphot Average number of photons captured F Photon flux (photons per area per second) Np = ao F / 57.3 = ao A = ao A for l = 700 nm …….(10) Ap Collecting area of photosite 1.02 lF/ A 58.446l 0.041 T Integration time Notice that this depends on only two factors; the angular size of the Q Quantum efficiency of photosite (electrons per photon) target object and the aperture of the telescope. This is the best resolu- Ne Number of electrons tion we can hope for ; there are many things that can degrade this but dPSF Diameter of Point Spread Function nothing that can improve it, although it may be possible to compen- dFWHM Diameter of Airy disc (full width at half maximum) sate for some of the degradations by subsequent image processing. d Diameter of sensor pixel pix We could adopt this as a measurement to describe this initial resolu- The value of a photosite in the sensor depends upon the number of tion. Let’s call it PPI (points per image), a little analogous perhaps to photons it has captured. the dpi (dots per inch) used to describe printing resolution. Nphot = FApT So, once we have established our PPI from (10), we are stuck with it. Ne = QNphot Increasing the image scale with greater magnification will not change

So for a group of photosites that all receive the same illumination, Ne this since the point spread will increase at least as fast as the image will be the average number of electrons released by each site. Since scale, as established by (8). What will change is the size of the sensor this is only an average and is subject to random fluctuation the stan- elements relative to the point spreads and it is this that can be used to

dard variation will be ÖNe. This random variation will represent a gauge the degree of image sampling. When we have increased the noise signal, and the signal to noise ratio SN will be : image scale (and the point spread diameter !) to twice the diameter of a sensor element then we can consider the Nyquist criteria to have SN = N / ÖN = ÖN e e e been met. Any further increase in image scale will result in a larger The Point Spread Function of the telescope image refers to size and point image diameter and would be equivalent to going to an over- shape of the actual image of a point source of illumination. Ideally sampling situation. Little would be achieved by this in revealing fur- this is equal to the Airy disc but, inevitably, there will be other factors ther detail. What is happening in this situation is that there will be to degrade this, e.g. optical aberrations, atmospheric turbulence, track- more sampling points per area of image, but the ultimate resolution ing errors etc. The CCD will also add the noise signal just men- inherent in the image is decreasing because of the larger point spread. tioned. Hence we have : Sampling the image ever more finely achieves nothing when the image dPSF ³ dFWHM itself is getting ever more fuzzier ! Also, since the other consequence Electronics engineers are familiar with the Nyquist theorem for calcu- would be a dimmer image requiring longer exposure, greater tracking lating the minimum frequency at which a signal must be sampled in problems etc. there is little to be gained here. If the image scale is order to preserve the information contained by it. This says that for much less than this then the resolution is going to be limited by the the sampling to reveal the detail of the original with reasonable fidel- size of the sensor elements. So, to make life as easy as possible we ity, the sampling frequency must be at least twice the highest fre- need to match the point spread function of our image to the dimen- quency present in the original signal. If the sampling rate is lower sions of our sensor elements, which we can do by carefully selecting than this the detected signal will not faithfully represent the original, the focal length at which the image is made. A longer focal length will as much of the detail will have been lost (and if it is much lower than mean more difficult imaging, and a shorter focal length will mean that this the detected signal will be a gross distortion of the original). This we will not fully reveal the detail in the original image. Hence we situation is referred to as undersampling. should use equation (9) to calculate our ideal focal length and provide If the sample rate is exactly twice the highest frequency in the original for this by modifying the optical system with Barlow lenses, focal re- then this is just adequate to preserve most of the detail in the original. ducers, projection eyepieces etc. as needed. This is called critical sampling. If the sampling rate is further in- Example 1 creased the amount of detail detected will increase, but only margin- As an example lets assume a 150 mm Refractor at f8 and a Canon ally. This is called oversampling. This theorem is not restricted to EOS 1000D Digital SLR camera which has a sensor size of 22.2 x any particular domain, and can be applied spatially as well as tempo- 14.8 mm comprising 3888 x 2592 photosites. rally, so we can legitimately consider the photosites in a CCD array to We have : be sampling the image that is falling upon the sensor. Hence, we can l = 700 x 10-6 mm approximate the Nyquist condition for critical sampling with : A = 150 mm Wsens = 22.2 mm dpix = dPSF / 2 Hsens = 14.8 mm And even for an ideal case where dPSF = dFWHM we have from (8) : Nwpix = 3888 Nhpix = 2592 W = W / N = 22.2 / 3888 = 5.71 microns dpix = 1.02 lF = 0.51 lF = 0.51lf pix sens wpix 2A A Hpix = Hsens / Nhpix = 14.8 / 2592 = 5.71 microns

The only parameter that we can usefully vary in this is f (i.e. F and/ So d = 5.71 microns or A) which could be accomplished by introducing a Barlow lens into pix

the optical system, or using eyepiece projection, or even substituting For critical sampling this requires from (9) a focal length of another telescope. For a given telescope then we have : F = 150 x 5.71 x 10-3 = 2400 mm F = A d ………………………………...... (9) pix 0.51 x 700 x 10-6 0.51l This represents the focal length required to provide critical sampling The normal focal length is A x f = 150 mm x 8 = 1200 mm, so criti- of the resulting image by the sensor array. A good way to summarise cal sampling can be achieved quite simply by incorporation of a x2 this is to consider the initial resolution of the prime focus image in Barlow lens. terms of the point spread function. For simplicity we will disregard

F.A.S. Newsletter 92 13 Winter 2009 Equation (9) then provides a value of F which will give an appropriate Also from (9) we have the focal length for critical spatial sampling of image scale insofar as the characteristics of the camera and telescope the image : will be matched for good image resolution. This is not the whole F = A dpix story however as no account has been taken of the actual image size 0.51l which, of course, will depend upon the angular size of the target ob- So we can say that critical sampling corresponds to an angular FOV ject. For small objects greater magnification may be desirable to re- per pixel of : duce the need for subsequent enlargement, so the final image scale may be larger than equation (9) would suggest. A common way of apix(crit) = 57.3 x 0.51l = 0.020456 ° / pixel achieving this is by eyepiece projection. A A

Eyepiece Projection Fig. 2 : Projection Geometry apix(crit) = 0.020456 x 3600 = 73.64 arcsecs / pixel …….(12) A A Example 2

For A = 150 mm apix(crit) = 73.64 / 150 = 0.491 arcsecs / pixel This should agree with the situation in example 1 where

-3 apix = (57.3 x 5.71 x 10 x 3600) / 2400 = 0.491 arcsecs / pixel μ In practice the image scale that can be usefully used will be limited by the factors previously mentioned for oversampling. There are no hard- and fast rules for this but typical values in arcsecs / pixel for desirable I Prime focus image image scales might be : d Prime focus image to eyepiece distance For views of constellations : 30 D Projection distance (eyepiece to image plane) For views of open clusters : 5 F Focal length of eyepiece For many deep sky objects : 1-2 E Image enlargement over prime focus Planets : < 1 Fig. 2 shows an arrangement for eyepiece projection. Here, the pro- Magnification v Subsequent Enlargement jection distance D is determined by the distance, d, of the eyepiece relative to the prime focus image formed by the objective. If d = F Let’s assume that in example 2 we capture an image of the Moon and then light rays from any point on the image will be exiting the eye- another of Mars both at critical spatial sampling as determined by (9). piece in parallel, forming a virtual image at infinity to an eye placed The Moon presents an angular diameter of 29 minutes = 1740 behind the eyepiece and no real image projection will result. Another arcsecs, while Mars at its nearest presents 25 arcsecs. So we have : way of interpreting this is to say that a real image is produced, but at At critical sampling : infinite distance, i.e. D = ∞. If d > F then a real image will be For Moon ao = 1740 arcsecs projected as shown, and as d is further increased D will decrease. This occupies ao / apix = 1740 / 0.491 = 3544 pixels From Fig. 2 it can be seen that if D = 2F then the enlargement E = 1. For Mars a = 25 arcsecs Generally : D = L + F o This occupies ao / apix = 25 / 0.491 = 51 pixels and h = I (L/F) For the previous example of a Canon EOS 1000D whose sensor has so L = hF / I an array of 3888 x 2592 pixels, Mars would give an undersize image, and D = (hF / I) + F while the Moon’s image would be too large for the sensor if it is re- quired to capture the whole disc. Obviously for the case of the Moon, but E = h / I we can simply use a lower value of F. For Mars, such an undersized so D = (E + 1) F ………………………...... (11) image will require a large subsequent enlargement to provide a use- able final image. This would look very ‘blocky’ from an initial image E.g. for an f6.3 telescope using a 25 mm eyepiece, to get an enlarge- that was only 51 pixels wide so we would probably wish to increase the ment over a prime focus image of 4x, the distance of the CCD from magnification when capturing the initial image. The detail in the the eyepiece must be set up from equation (11) : magnified image will be subject to the same limits to the resolution D = (4 + 1) x 25 = 125 mm but this will probably appear less obtrusive than the ‘blockiness’ in the unmagnified image, and a degree of sharpening may be achievable This must be set and then the eyepiece-to-objective distance adjusted during image processing. If we provide more magnification by resort- for focus. ing to using eyepiece projection, the point spread function may be Although eyepiece projection permits a large degree of magnification further degraded because of additional optical aberrations and sensi- it has to be said that most eyepiece optics are not designed for projec- tivity to atmospheric movements. All this means that to use a large tion and consequently will introduce some degradation to the image. degree of oversampling requires several conditions to be met as far as An eyepiece has greater demands on its optics than an objective lens possible : largely due to the greater angles it has to accommodate; an objective • Excellent seeing conditions typically has a field of view of no greater than 1-2 degrees whereas an • Quality optics eyepiece may have 70-80 degrees or even more. However, for very • Accurate tracking (if long exposures used) small objects such as planets this may be the only option. In summary, then, it seems that the image scale should initially be Angular Field Of View At Critical Sampling aimed at the value provided by equation (9) to get the optimum com- As a gauge of the image quality to be expected, the image scale in promise between resolution and magnification. This should be terms of angular field of view per pixel is often a useful measure. This achieved using prime focus, with the addition of a Barlow lens if nec- is usually expressed as arcseconds per pixel. essary. If this results in too small an image then more magnification will have to be resorted to e.g. by employing eyepiece projection. This From (6) we can derive for the angular FOV per pixel : will require good optics, good seeing conditions and a good mount for tracking. apix = 57.3 dpix / F

F.A.S. Newsletter 92 14 Winter 2009 "I was wowed when I saw these images and Cassini Captures Ghostly Dance of Saturn's the curtain," said Tamas Gombosi of the Uni- Northern Lights versity of Michigan in Ann Arbor, who chairs Cassini's magnetosphere and plasma science In the first video showing the auroras above the northern working group. "Put this together with the latitudes of Saturn, Cassini has spotted the tallest known other data Cassini has collected on the auro- "northern lights" in the solar system, flickering in shape and ras so far, and you really get a new science." Ultraviolet and infrared instruments on brightness high above the ringed planet. Cassini have captured images of and data from Saturn's auroras before, but in these The new video reveals changes in Saturn's netic bubble surrounding a planet -- plunge latest images, Cassini's narrow-angle camera aurora every few minutes, in high resolution, into the planet's upper atmosphere, they cause was able to capture the northern lights in the with three dimensions. The images show a the atmosphere to glow. The curtain shapes visible part of the light spectrum, in higher previously unseen vertical profile to the auro- show the paths that these charged particles resolution. The movie was assembled from ras, which ripple in the video like tall cur- take as they flow along the lines of the mag- nearly 500 still pictures spanning 81 hours tains. These curtains reach more than 1,200 netic field between the magnetosphere and between Oct. 5 and Oct. 8, 2009. Each pic- kilometers (750 miles) above the edge of the the uppermost part of the atmosphere. ture had an exposure time of two or three planet's northern hemisphere. The height of the curtains on Saturn ex- minutes. The camera shot pictures from the Auroras occur on Earth, Jupiter, Saturn poses a key difference between Saturn's atmos- night side of Saturn. and a few other planets, and the new images phere and our own, Ingersoll said. While The images were originally obtained in will help scientists better understand how Earth's atmosphere has a lot of oxygen and black and white, and the imaging team high- they are generated. nitrogen, Saturn's atmosphere is composed lighted the auroras in false-color orange. The "The auroras have put on a dazzling show, primarily of hydrogen. Because hydrogen is oxygen and nitrogen in Earth's upper atmos- shape-shifting rapidly and exposing curtains very light, the atmosphere and auroras reach phere contribute to the colorful flashes of that we suspected were there, but hadn't seen far out from Saturn. Earth's auroras tend to green, red and even purple in our auroras. on Saturn before," said Andrew Ingersoll of flare only about 100 to 500 kilometers (60 to But scientists are still working to determine the California Institute of Technology in 300 miles) above the surface. the true color of the auroras at Saturn, whose Pasadena, who is a member of the Cassini The speed of the auroral changes in the atmosphere lacks those chemicals. imaging team that processed the new video. video is comparable to some of those on The Cassini-Huygens mission is a coopera- "Seeing these things on another planet helps Earth, but scientists are still working to under- tive project of NASA, the European Space us understand them a little better when we stand the processes that produce these rapid Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet see them on Earth." changes. The height will also help them learn Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the Cali- Auroras appear mostly in the high latitudes how much energy is required to light up auro- fornia Institute of Technology in Pasadena, near a planet's magnetic poles. When charged ras. particles from the magnetosphere -- the mag- ScienceDaily (Nov. 26, 2009)

The new video and still images are online at: :http://www.nasa.gov/cassini, http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://ciclops.org .

This still image from a video shows the tallest known auroras in the solar system, rippling high above Saturn. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)

F.A.S. Newsletter 92 15 Winter 2009 Spitzer Telescope Observes Baby Brown Dwarf from Spitzer, enabled the astronomers to build a spectral energy distribution -- a dia- NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has contributed to the discov- gram that shows the amount of energy that is ery of the youngest brown dwarf ever observed -- a finding emitted by the objects in each wavelength. that, if confirmed, may solve an astronomical mystery about From Hawaii, the astronomers made addi- how these cosmic misfits are formed. tional stops at observatories in Spain (Calar Alto Observatory), Chile (Very Large Tele- Brown dwarfs are misfits because they fall this property to identify them. This is where scopes) and New Mexico (Very Large Array). somewhere between planets and stars in terms Spitzer plays an important role because They also pulled decade-old data from the of their temperature and mass. They are Spitzer can have a look inside these clouds. Canadian Astronomy Data Centre archives cooler and more lightweight than stars and Without it this wouldn't have been possible." that allowed them to comparatively measure more massive (and normally warmer) than Spitzer's longer-wavelength infrared camera how the two objects were moving in the sky. planets. This has generated a debate among penetrated the dusty natal cloud to observe a After more than a year of observations, they astronomers: Do brown dwarfs form like baby brown dwarf named SSTB213 J041757. drew their conclusions. planets or like stars? "We were able to estimate Brown dwarfs are born of that these two objects are the the same dense, dusty faintest and coolest discov- clouds that spawn stars and ered so far," Barrado said. planets. But while they may Barrado said the findings share the same galactic potentially solve the mystery nursery, brown dwarfs are about whether brown dwarfs often called "failed" stars form more like stars or plan- because they lack the mass ets. The answer? They form of their hotter, brighter like low-mass stars. This the- stellar siblings. Without ory is bolstered because the that mass, the gas at their change in brightness of the core does not get hot objects at various wave- enough to trigger the nu- lengths matches that of other clear fusion that burns very young, low-mass stars. hydrogen -- the main com- While further study will con- ponent of these molecular firm whether these two celes- clouds -- into helium. Un- tial objects are in fact proto able to ignite as stars, brown dwarfs, they are the brown dwarfs end up as best candidates so far, Bar- cooler, less luminous ob- rado said. He said the jour- jects that are more difficult ney to their discovery, while to detect -- a challenge that difficult, was fun. "It is a was overcome in this case story that has been unfolding by Spitzer's heat-sensitive piece by piece. Sometimes infrared vision. nature takes its time to give To complicate matters, up its secrets." young brown dwarfs evolve This image shows two young brown dwarfs, objects that fall somewhere These observations were rapidly, making it difficult between planets and stars in terms of their temperature and mass. Image made before Spitzer ran out to catch them when they are credit: (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Calar Alto Observatory/Caltech of its liquid coolant in May first born. The first brown Submillimeter Observatory) 2009, beginning its "warm" dwarf was discovered in mission. 1995 and, while hundreds have been found The data, confirmed with near-infrared imag- The paper's other authors are M. Morales- since, astronomers had not been able to un- ing from Calar Alto Observatory in Spain, Calderon, Centro de Astrobiología and ambiguously find them in their earliest stages revealed not one but two of what would po- Spitzer Science Center; A. Palau and A. Bayo, of formation until now. In this study, an in- tentially prove to be the faintest and coolest Centro de Astrobiología; I. de Gregorio- ternational team of astronomers found a so- brown dwarfs ever observed. Monsalvo, European Southern Observatory; called "proto brown dwarf" while it was still Barrado and his team embarked on an C. Eiroa, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; hidden in its natal star-forming region. international quest for more information N. Huelamo, Centro de Astrobiología; H. Guided by Spitzer data collected in 2005, they about the two objects. Their overarching sci- Bouy, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias and focused their search in the dark cloud Bar- entific objective was to observe and character- European Space Agency; O. Morata, Institute nard 213, a region of the Taurus-Auriga com- ize the presence of this dusty envelope -- proof of Astronomy and Astrophysics and National plex well known to astronomers as a hunting of the celestial womb of sorts that would indi- Taiwan Normal University; and L. Schmidto- ground for young objects. cate that these brown dwarfs were, in fact, in breick, European Southern Observatory. "We decided to go several steps back in the their earliest evolutionary stages. More information on the Spitzer Space Tele- process when (brown dwarfs) are really hid- The twins were observed from around the scope is online at http:// den," said David Barrado of the Centro de globe, and their properties were measured spitzer.caltech.eduand http://www.nasa.gov/ Astrobiología in Madrid, Spain, lead author and analyzed using a host of powerful astro- spitzer . of the paper on the discovery in the Astronomy nomical tools. One of the astronomers' stops & Astrophysicsjournal. "During this step they was the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory in ScienceDaily (Nov. 24, 2009) would have an (opaque) envelope, a cocoon, Hawaii, which captured the presence of the and they would be easier to identify due to envelope around the young objects. That their strong infrared excesses. We have used information, coupled with what they had

F.A.S. Newsletter 92 16 Winter 2009 tory (SOHO). In May of that year, a CME Solar Tsunamis Are Real, NASA Says blasted up from an active region on the sun's surface, and SOHO recorded a tsunami rip- pling away from the blast site. Incredibly powerful waves of plasma rippling across the surface of the sun "We wondered," Gurman recalled, "is that a and dubbed "solar tsunamis" were first observed years ago, but were wave – or just a shadow of the CME over- thought to be an optical illusion. Scientists have now confirmed, though, that head?" they are really real. Stereo view SOHO's single point of view was not enough When scientists first saw the phenomenon, it STEREO recorded the wave from two posi- to answer the question–neither for that first was hard to believe that a towering wave of tions separated by 90 degrees, giving research- wave nor for many similar events recorded by hot plasma was actually racing along the sun's ers an unprecedented view of the event. SOHO in years that followed, until STEREO surface. One of the waves rose up higher than "It was definitely a wave," said Spiros Pat- launched in 2006. The mission uses two the diameter of Earth and rippled out from a sourakos of George Mason University in Vir- spacecraft — one orbiting the sun ahead of the central point in a circular pattern millions of ginia and lead author of a paper reporting the Earth, the other behind it — to get, literally, a miles wide, like a gargantuan pattern of waves finding in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. stereo view of the sun. created by a pebble dropped in a pond. "We've seen the waves reflected by coronal Skeptical observers suggested it might be a holes (magnetic holes in the sun's atmos- shadow of some kind – a trick of the eye. But phere)," Vourlidas said. "And there is a won- new observations from NASA's STEREO derful movie of a solar prominence oscillating (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) after it gets hit by a wave. We call it spacecraft are telling researchers that this the 'dancing prominence.'" controversial phenomenon isn't an illusion. Solar tsunamis pose no direct threat to This week, NASA released a remark- Earth. Nevertheless, they are important to able video of a solar tsunami. study, scientists say. "Now we know," said Joe Gurman of the "We can use them to diagnose conditions Solar Physics Lab at NASA's Goddard Space on the sun," Gurman said. "By watching how Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "Solar tsuna- the waves propagate and bounce off things, mis are real." "Not a wave of water," he adds, "but a giant we can gather information about the sun's Reality confirmed wave of hot plasma and magnetism." lower atmosphere available in no other way." The twin STEREO spacecraft confirmed The technical name is "fast-mode magneto- "Tsunami waves can also improve our fore- their reality in images captured in February hydrodynamical wave" – or "MHD wave" for casting of space weather," Vourlidas added, when sunspot 11012 unexpectedly erupted. short. The one STEREO saw reared up about "Like a bull-eye, they 'mark the spot' where an The blast hurled a billion-ton cloud of gas 62,000 miles (100,000 km) high, and raced eruption takes place. Pinpointing the blast site (acoronal mass ejection, or "CME") into space outward at 560,000 mph (250 km/s) packing can help us anticipate when a CME or radia- and sent a tsunami racing along the sun's as much energy as 2,400 megatons of TNT. tion storm will reach Earth." surface. Solar tsunamis were discovered back in 1997 by the Solar and Heliospheric Observa- SPACE.com 25 November 2009

great time," Williams told SPACE.com. "The By Clara Moskowitz Space Station Crew Will Shrink to Two loneliness was not an issue. There's so much contact with the ground... that it's not an The International Space Station, which was down on the amount of science research they issue." crowded last week with 12 astronauts on- can accomplish, Williams and Suraev should Williams was recently promoted to com- board, is set to go down to a crew of two Tues- be able to handle the workload, NASA said. mander of the space station's Expedition 22 day. "We won't overload the crew with a lot of mission after the outgoing commander, Bel- Seven astronauts departed the station Nov. tasks," said Dan Hartman, manager of space gian astronaut Frank DeWinne, relinquished 25 on the space shuttle Atlantis, and now station integration and operations. "We feel control during a change-of-command cere- three more station residents are set to undock mony Nov. 24. from the orbital outpost Monday at 10:56 "You've set the bar very high for me but also p.m. EST (0356 GMT Tuesday) to land their for those that follow us," Williams told Russian Soyuz spacecraft at 2:16 a.m. EST DeWinne, the first station commander to (0716 GMT) Tuesday in Kazakhstan. represent the European Space Agency. The barebones remaining crew of two — DeWinne is set to end his six-month space NASA astronaut Jeff Williams and Russian voyage and return to Earth Tuesday along cosmonaut Maxim Suraev — will be left to with Expedition 21 flight engineers Bob handle the space laboratory themselves for Thirsk of Canada and Russian cosmonaut about three weeks. Roman Romanenko. All three have spent 186 "Jeff once told me that this will be the best days on the station, overseeing the addition of time," Suraev said during an in-flight news a new science porch on the station, the arrival conference last week. "Right now we have so very comfortable going into it." of the first Japanese unmanned cargo ship, many people onboard, so I haven't had the In fact, Williams is an old hand at serving and three visiting shuttle flights. chance to be onboard with just two crewmem- on small crews: He was one of two astronauts Williams and Suraev are due to be joined bers. What we're planning to do is just the working on the space station during Expedi- by three more crewmembers — Russian cos- regular work, our regular activities." tion 13 in 2003, when shuttle flights were put monaut Oleg Kotov, Japanese astronaut The two spaceflyers will each have more on hold following the tragic Columbia acci- Soichi Noguchi, and NASA astronaut Timo- daily maintenance jobs than they do when the dent. thy Creamer — arriving on a Soyuz spacecraft normal crew of six long-term residents is at "I spent three months as part of a crew of Dec. 23. the station. Though they may have to cut two with Pavel [Vinogradov], and we had a Space.com 30 November 2009

F.A.S. Newsletter 92 17 Winter 2009 MRO Comes Out of Safe Mode Written by Nancy Atkinson

The latest word on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is that the spacecraft has successfully come out of safe mode. The various instru- ments, including the HiRISE camera are still "safed" at this point, and engineers are waiting for acquisition of signal to confirm mapping orientation. MRO spontaneously rebooted its computer on Aug. 26, and since this was the fourth time this type of event had occurred, flight engineers decided to keep the spacecraft in safe mode, and have been working to figure out possible root causes, as well as repercus- sions if these events were to continue to hap- pen. Several protective files were uploaded to MRO in late November, with hopes of return- ing the orbiter to its regularly scheduled re- search and relay activities. Once engineers check out of all the science instruments, nor- mal science operations may resume next week. "The patient is out of danger but more Artist impression of MRO. Image credit: NASA/JPL steps have to be taken to get it back on its feet," said Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Pro- or "flash" memories where the computers MRO has six instruments on board to ex- ject Manager Jim Erickson. check for default settings when they reboot. amine Mars in detail, from subsurface layers Since August, the team worked painstak- The four reboots involved a device, called to the top of the atmosphere. ingly on a plan to ensure the safety and opera- the "computer module interface controller," "The precautionary steps we are taking are tion of the orbiter. "This process is to bullet- that controls which of two redundant main not driven by the calendar, but by our com- proof the spacecraft against a remote vulner- computers on the spacecraft is active. Still mitment to care for this valuable national ability that our team identified," said Erick- undetermined is whether trouble lies with resource," Erickson said. "We are all eager to son. "Meanwhile, analysis of possible root that controller itself or with a voltage glitch have science observations resume as soon as a causes for the four reboots this year continues elsewhere on the spacecraft. The Aug. 6 re- properly cautious process allows." as another important part of our path toward boot, though not the other three, prompted a resuming science operations." switch from one computer to its backup twin. Universe Today—December 8th, 2009 The preventive care required amending More than 100 factors are under considera- some data files in the computers' non-volatile, tion as possible root causes.

Dating a Cluster – A New The new technique, developed by a large team of international astronomers, uses "a Trick well defined knee located along the lower main sequence" which they refer to as the Finding the ages of things in astronomy is Main Sequence Knee (MSK). This "knee" hard. While it is undoubted that the proper- appears in H-R diagrams of the clusters taken ties of objects change as they age, the diffi- in the near-infrared and is largely independ- culty lies in that the initial parameters are ent of the age of the cluster. As such, it pro- often so varied that, for most cases, finding vides a stable reference point to improve cor- reliable ages is challenging. There's some rections for the general main sequence turn- tricks to do it though. One of the best ones, off method. Additionally, since this system taught conceptually in introductory astron- uses infrared wavelengths, it is less prone to omy courses, is to use the "main sequence contamination between gas and dust. turn-off" of a cluster. Of course, applying any To test this new method, the group selected of these methods is easier said than done, a globular cluster (NGC 3201) as a test case. but a new method may help alleviate some of When their method was applied, they found the challenges and allow for smaller errors. contribute to an uncertainty in any calcula- that their derived age for the cluster was con- The largest difficulty in the main sequence tion that requires an accurate Hertzsprung- sistent with ages derived by other methods. turn-off method lies in the inherent scatter Russell Diagram. Tricks to correct for some of However, the new method is not without caused by numerous sources that must be these factors exist. Others cannot (yet) be difficulties of its own. Since the knee is at the accounted for. Stars that lie along the same accounted for. faint end of the main sequence, this requires line of sight as the cluster being observed can Thanks to all these problems, fitting the that exposure times for target clusters be suffi- add extraneous data points. Any interstellar data can often be challenging. Finding the ciently long to bring out such faint stars. For- reddening caused by gas may make stars ap- point where the cluster "peels away" from the tunately, with new telescopes like the James pear more red than they should be. main sequence is difficult, so one of the tricks Webb Space Telescope, these faint stars Closebinary stars that cannot be spatially is to look for other points that should have should be in reach. resolved appear brighter than they should be significant numbers of stars to provide extra as an individual star. The amount of heavy reference points for fitting. Examples of this elements in the star will also effect the fitting include the horizontal branch and the red Written by Jon Voisey of the model. All of these factors and more clump. Universe Today

F.A.S. Newsletter 92 18 Winter 2009 However, the new study, by researchers New Findings Say Mars Methane from Imperial College London, shows that the volumes of methane that could be re- Comes from Life or Water — or Both leased by the meteorites entering Mars’s at- mosphere are too low to maintain the current atmospheric levels of methane. Previous stud- ies have also ruled out the possibility that the methane is delivered through volcanic activ- ity. “Our experiments are helping to solve the mystery of methane on Mars," said Dr. Rich- ard Court, co-author of the study. "Meteorites vaporizing in the atmosphere are a proposed methane source but when we recreate their fiery entry in the laboratory we get only small amounts of the gas. For Mars, meteorites fail the methane test.” The team used a technique called Quanti- tive Pyrolysis-Fourier Trans- form InfraredSpectroscopy to reproduce the same searing conditions experienced by mete- orites as they enter the Martian atmosphere. The team heated the meteorite fragments to 1000 degrees Celsius and measured the gases that were released using an infrared beam. When quantities of gas released by the laboratory experiments were combined with published calculations of meteorite in-fall rates on Mars, the scientists calculated that only 10 kilograms of meteorite methane was produced each year, far below the 100 to 300 tons required to replenish methane levels in the Martian atmosphere. The researchers say their study will help NASA and ESA scientists who are planning a joint mission to the red planet in 2018 to search for the source of methane. The re- A new paper due to be published Wednesday space missions announced that the methane searchers say now that they have discovered 9th December 2009 rules out the possibility on Mars is being constantly replenished by an that meteorites are not a source of Methane that methane is delivered to Mars by meteor- unknown source and they are keen to uncover on Mars, ESA and NASA scientists can focus ites, boosting the idea that the short-lived gas how the levels of methane are being topped their attention on the two last remaining perhaps could be generated by either life or up. options. water, or maybe even both. Microorganisms Methane has a short lifetime of just a few “This work is a big step forward," said co- living in the Martian soil could be producing hundred years on Mars because it is con- author Mark Sephton. "As Sherlock Holmes methane gas as a by-product of their meta- stantly being depleted by a chemical reaction said, eliminate all other factors and the one bolic processes, or methane might be created in the planet’s atmosphere, caused by that remains must be the truth. The list of as a result of reactions between volcanic rock sunlight. possible sources of methane gas is getting and water. Either way, the prospect is exciting. Some researchers proposed meteorites smaller and excitingly, extraterrestrial life still Methane on Mars was first detected in might be responsible for Martian methane remains an option. Ultimately the final test 1999, again in 2001 and 2003, which was levels because when the rocks enter the may have to be on Mars.” widely reported, but not much was known planet’s atmosphere they are subjected to about the origin or amount of the gas on intense heat, causing a chemical reaction that Mars. releases methane and other gases into the Written by Nancy Atkinson In January 2009, scientists analyzing data atmosphere. Universe Today from telescopic observations and unmanned December 8th, 2009

F.A.S. Newsletter 92 19 Winter 2009 SOCIETY ROUND UP ABERDEEN AS www.aberdeenastro.org.uk 1st & 3rd Fri at Brannel School, St Stephens, COVENTRY & WARWICK AS http:// 2nd Tues at Cromwell Tower Observatory, King’s Cornwall . uk.geocities.com/covwaras/ College, Old Aberdeen Frank Johns, 01637-878020 2nd Fri at Earlsdon Methodist Church Hall, Earlsdon Email: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] Ave South, Earlsdon ABINGDON AS www.abingdonastro.org.uk BRECKLAND AA www.brecklandastro.org.uk/ email: [email protected] 2nd Mon at Methodist Church Hall, Dorchester 2nd Fri at Recreation Centre, B1077 Watton Road, CRANBROOK & DISTRICT AS www.cadas.com/ Crescent, Abingdon Great Ellingham 2nd Mondays at Cranbrook School Observatory. Email: [email protected] Rod Crockford. Email: [email protected] CRAWLEY AS http://uk.geocities.com/crawleyas/ Jan 11: Exoplanets Dr F Pearce Jan 8: Planetarium Show Mike Cripps 3rd Fri (exc July & Aug) at Ifield Community Centre. Feb 8: E Large Telescope Dr F Clarke Feb 12: Radio Astronomy Jeff Lashley 7.30 pm. Mar 8: Astronomy & Early Royals Dr A Chapman Mar 12: Rocketry Rod Stevenson Jim Swift 01293-882560 ADUR AS www.adur-astronomical.com Apr 9: Astrophotography Nik Szymanek E-mail: [email protected] 1st Mon at Southwick Community Centre, Southwick, May 14: 2009 Eclipse & AGM Jerry Workman CROYDON AS www.croydonastro.org.uk Sussex Jun 11: Galaxy Zoo Dr C Lintott 2nd Fri during term time at Royal Russell School, Email: [email protected] BRIDGEND AS Coombe Lane ALTRINCHAM & DISTRICT AS www.bridgendastronomicalsociety.co.uk Paul Harper email: [email protected] www.astroadas.org.uk 2nd Fri (Sept-May) Parc Slip Nature Reserve, Aberken- DALGETY BAY AC http://db-astro.org 1st Fri (exc Jul & Aug) at Scout’s Building on Park fig. Meets at The Kabin, junct Moray Way South & Re- Road, Timperley. Altrincham Email: [email protected] gents Way. Geoff Flood 0161 980 1675 BRISTOL AS www.bristolastrosoc.org.uk DERBY & DISTRICT AS www.derbyastronomy.org email: [email protected] Every Fri at Bristol Grammar School, University Road 1st Fri (exc July) at 7.30 at Friends Meeting House, St AS OF GLASGOW Simon Smith, email: [email protected] Helen’s St, Derby www.astronomicalsocietyofglasgow.org.uk/ CALLINGTON CAG www.callington-astro.org.uk DONCASTER AS www.donastro.org.uk Meetings 3rd Thurs. at Room 345, Uni of Strathclyde 1st & 3rd Sat (exc Aug), at Space Centre, Callington 2nd & 4th Thurs at Church House—behind St George (Montrose St entrance) Community College. Minster, Doncanster. Email: [email protected] Beccy Watson; callintona- Mrs Lesley Hardware on 01302-743352 AMATEUR ASTRONOMY CENTRE [email protected] email: [email protected] www.astronomycentre.org.uk CARDIFF AS www.cardiff-astronomical-society.org DUMFRIES AS Society web-site Off A681 halfway between Todmorden & Bacup Alt Thurs, Sep-Jul, at Dept Physics & Astronomy, www.astronomers.ukscientist.com e-mail: [email protected] Univ. of Wales, 5 The Parade. Monthly meetings at the St. George's Churchhall, ANDOVER AS www.andoverastronomy.org.uk David Powell, 029 2055 1704. George Street, Dumfries 3rd Thur (exc Aug) at Grateley Village Hall. Email [email protected] Email: [email protected] or 01387 269762 e-mail: [email protected] Jan 7: 3 sides to the Sun Nick Howes EASTBOURNE AS www.EastbourneAS.org.uk ASHFORD AS www.ashfordastro.org.uk Jan 21: To infinity & beyond Andrew Green Saturdays at the Willingdon Memorial Hall, Church Last Fri (exc Bank Hols) 19.30 at Woodchurch Memo- Feb 4: 400 yrs of the telescope Prof M Edmunds Street, Willingdon p.m. rial Hall, Front Road, Woodchurch. TN26 3QB Feb 18: Can we take cosmology seriously Bob Cripps, tel. 01323 732067 Drew Wagar e-mail: [email protected] Profs M Disney & S Eales email [email protected] Mar 4: Star Formation History Dr E Pascale AYLESBURY AS www.aylesbury-astronomy.org.uk AST IDING STRONOMERS Mar 18: Infrared Astronomy Prof M Griffin E R A 1st Mon (exc Bank Hols) at the Scout Hut, Oakfield www.eastridingastronomers.org.uk Apr 15: Messier Marathon Grahame Carter Road, Aylesbury. 3rd Mon at the Friends Meeting House, Quaker Lane, Apr 29: Venus & Venus Express Prof F Taylor Sue Macdonald [email protected] Beverley. May 13: Practical Astronomy B Sheen Tony Scaife, email [email protected] AYRSHIRE AS http:// May 27: How outer planets were not discovered ayrastro.thesmallearth.com/ Colin Steele EAST SUSSEX AS www.esas.org.uk 1st Tues at Ayr College 1st Thurs. St Mary’s School, Wrestwood Road, Bexhill- CAROLIAN AS www.carolianastro.org.uk email: [email protected] on-Sea. TN40 2LU Contact: Chris Ashman 01562 743758. Andy Lawes Tel. 01424 819450 BASINGSTOKE AS www.basingstokeas.org.uk/ Email: [email protected] 4th Thurs at Cliddesden Primary School email [email protected] ASTLE OINT www.cpac.org.uk email: [email protected] C P AC 7 Jan: Galileo—400 years of the ‘scope Simon Allen Every Weds at St Michaels Church, St Michaels Rd, 4 Feb: The Herschel Telescope Dr Seb Oliver BASSETLAW AS http:// Daws Heath, Hadleigh. 2nd & 4th Weds: Beginners/ beehive.thisisnottingham.co.uk/bassetlawastro 4 Mar: Spectroscopy in astronomy David Pulley Observing. Other Weds: talks & group events 1 Apr: Current Status of ’Big Bang’ Dr D Parkinson Meets at The Village Hall, Tylden Rd, Rhodesia, Notts. 01702 434449. Email: [email protected] S80 3HL 6 May: Space in next 50 yrs Dr D Whitehouse CHESTER AS www.cpac.org.uk Andrew Patten email: [email protected] FALKIRK ASTRONOMERS www.astronomy- Last Weds (no meeting Aug & Dec) at Burley Memo- BATLEY & SPENDBOROUGH AS falkirk.co.uk rial Hall, Waverton, Chester 2nd Weds (exc June/July) at Old Peoples Welfare Hall, Every Thurs at Milner K Ford Observatory, Wilton Tim Colegate-. Email: [email protected] Park, Batley Laurieston, Falkirk. CHIPPING NORTON AAG www.cnaag.com/ I Newsome 01924-443860 email: [email protected] 3rd Mon Robin Smitten 07900-858690. email: [email protected] FARNHAM AS www.farnham-as.co.uk Email: [email protected] ECKINGTON www.basnet.org.uk Meet 2nd Tues at Willis Hall, Sandy Lane, Church B AS CLACTON AS www.clactonastronomy.co.uk 3rd Fri (exc Jul, Aug & Dec) at Beckington Baptist Cookham, Fleet 1st Thurs (exc Aug) at Quakers House, Granvile Road, Church Hall, Beckington, Barry Bellinger, tel. 07748766610 Clacton-on-Sea. CO15 6BX email: [email protected] [email protected] David Pugh 01255 429849 e-mail [email protected] FLAMSTEED AS www.flamsteed.info BEDFORD AS www.bedsastro.org.uk Apr 1: Telescopes of the future Dr L Sproats Last Weds, Bedford School, Burnaby Road, Bedford, 1st Mon at Royal Observatory & National Maritime May 6: New Adventures in Imaging Nik Szymanek Museum, Greenwich. MK40 2TU Jul 1: Eclipses of 2008 & 9 Jerry Workman Email: [email protected] Friends Office. tel. 020 8312 6678 CLEETHORPES AS E-mail: [email protected] BIRMINGHAM AS www.birmingham- www.cleethorpesastronomy.co.uk astronomy.co.uk FURNESS & SOUTH LAKELAND AS Meetings held at the Beacon Hill Observatory, Clee- www.furness-astrosociety.org.uk Every Weds at Aston Uni. & Last Tues—lecture thorpes, start at 7.30pm. Email: [email protected] 1st Fri (exc Jul/Aug) at Trinity Church Centre, War- Paul Thompson 01472 233552 wick St. Barrow-in-Furness BLACKPOOL & DISTRICT AS e-mail [email protected]. Richard Alldridge, 01229 826864 www.blackpoolastronomy.org.uk CLYDESDALE AS www.clydesdaleastro.org.uk Email: [email protected] 1st Wed of month at St Kentigern’s Church Hall, 2nd Mon at Dunglass House, Ayr Road, ML11 9TU Newton Drive, Blackpool GUERNSEY AS www.astronomy.org.gg Contact: Lyn Smith 07725 347711. e-mail: clydesdal- Every Tues at the Observatory, Rue Lorier, St. Peters, Terry Devon Tel: 01253-625975 [email protected] email: [email protected] Guernsey. Jan 11: Night with V L Telescope Dr R Gilmour Debby Quertier. 01481 725760 BOLTON AS www.boltonastro.org.uk Feb 8: Galaxies & Black Holes Prof I Robson Email: [email protected] 1st & 3rd Tues at Bolton TIC Centre on Minerva Apr 12: Finding Supernovae Tom Boles GUILDFORD AS www.guildfordas.org Road (nr Bolton Royal Hospital) CORNWALL AS www.CornwallAS.org.uk Peter Miskiw. Email: [email protected] 1st Thurs at Guildford Institute, Ward Street, 2nd Tues & 4th Thurs at WI Hall, Mabe, Penryn.. Guildford BRADFORD AS www.bradfordastronomy.co.uk Robert Beeman (01326-341164 ) John Axtell. 01932 341036 [email protected] Alt Mons in upstairs room at Eccleshill Library, Bolton Email: [email protected] Road, Bradford, BD2 4SR HAMPSTEAD GARDEN SUBURB AS COTSWOLD AS www.cotswoldas.org.uk Last Wed at Free Church Hall, Northway, London Hilary on 01274 672570. john- 2nd Sat at Millenium Hall, Bishop Road, Shurdington, NW11. [email protected] Cheltenham. BRANNEL ASTRONOMY Callum Potter (01684-773256) Dianne Fishman 020 8458 4038 www.brannelastronomy.com email: [email protected]

F.A.S. Newsletter 92 20 Winter 2009 HAMPSHIRE ASTRONOMICAL GROUP ton Hill, 188 Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9DX—19.30 NENE VALLEY AS www.hantsastro.org.uk Mailto: [email protected] or www.eastnothantsastronomy.org.uk Wed & Fri at Observatory, Hinton Manor Lane, Clan- [email protected] 1st & 3rd Mon at Chelveston Village Hall at 7.45pm. field. Main monthly lecture 2nd Fri (exc Aug) Clanfield LEICESTER AS www.leicester-astronomical.co.uk email: [email protected] Tel: 01933-650331 Memorial Hall, South Road, Clanfield Meets 2nd and 4th Tues 19:30. National Space Centre, NEWBURY AS www.newburyas.org.uk Graham Bryant 02392 241764 Exploration Drive, Leicester 1st Fri (Sept-June) United Reformed Church Hall, Chris Gutteridge 0116 270 0596 email: [email protected] Cromwell Place, Newbury. email: [email protected] or [email protected] email: [email protected] LETCHWORTH & DISTRICT AS ORMAN OCKYER BS OC http:// HANTS ASTRO.ORG www.hantsastro.org N L O S Meets last Wednesday of the month at Plinston Hall, www.ex.ac.uk/nlo/welcome.htm David Woods 023 9261 7092 Letchworth: 7:45pm Fris & 2nd Mon at Norman Lockyer Obs, Sidmouth email: [email protected] Nick Ellis e.mail: [email protected] Devon. EX10 0YQ HARROGATE AS LINCOLN AS www.lincolnastronomy.org/ e-mail: [email protected] Last Fri at The Green Hut, Harlow Community 1st Tues (exc Jan) at 23 Westcliffe St, Lincoln Tel: 01395 512096 Centre, Harlow Ave. David Swaby. Tel: 01522-531591 NORTH ESSEX AS http://www.neas.me.uk Email: [email protected] LIVERPOOL AS www.liverpoolas.org 3rd Thurs (exc Aug & Dec) at Henry Dixon Hall, HAVERING AS http://homepages.tesco.net/ 3rd Fri at The Quaker Meeting House, 22 School Lane, Rivenhall End, Witham. ~nik.szymanek/havering.htm Liverpool L1 3BT Neil Short e-mail: [email protected] 3rd Wed at Cranham Community Centre, email: [email protected] NORTH NORFOLK AS http://www.nnas.org Marlborough Gardens, Cranham. Contact: Frances Jan 15: Probing Andromeda Dr Andy Newman At General Townend Club (Royal British Legion), Ridgley 01708 227397 Feb 19: Newton & Surrey Pumas Mike Frost Cattle Market St, Fakenham. HEART OF ENGLAND AS www.hoeas.co.uk Mar 19: Visual Amateur Astronomy Paul Abel Email: [email protected] Last Thurs Furnace End Meeting Site, The Old Ex- Apr 16: 2008 Eclipse Paul Money Jan 16: James Naysmyth Kevin Kilburn change, Shustoke, Warwickshire LOUGHTON AS www.las-astro.org.uk NORTH WALES & LLANDRILLO COLLEGE AS email: [email protected] Every Thurs in the Scout Hall, Loughton Lane, They- www.manastro.co.uk/nwgas/llandrillo HEBDEN BRIDGE AS don Bois, Essex. 2nd Tues at Lecture Hall, Llandrillo College Meetings at Hope Baptist Church Rooms at approx 4 Jerry Workman (0208-507-7568) Jean Smith e.mail: [email protected] week intervals. LOWESTOFT & GT YARMOUTH RA (LYRA) NORTHANTS AA www.naastronomy.com Len Entwhistle (01422-378368) or visit FAS webpage. 2nd Tues at Waveney Gymnastics Centre (access Not- 1st Tues at Church House, St Bodolphs Rd, Barton, HEREFORD AS ley Rd). Seagrave, Kettering and on 3rd Tues at Newton Field Meet 1st Thurs at Kindle Centre, Hereford . Richard Chilvers: 01502 57401 Centre nr Geddington. Contact: Paul Olver (01432-761693) email: [email protected] Steve Williams 01933 650331. email: [email protected]. LUTON AS www.lutonastrosoc.org.uk NORWICH AA HERTFORD AS http://hag.110mb.com/hag/ Last Thurs at Putteridge Bury Campus, University of www.norwich.astronomicalsociety.org.uk/ Meet Cricket Pavilion, Hertingfordbury Bedfordshire 3rd Fri at The Seething Observatory, Toad Lane, Contact: Marion email: [email protected]. Geoff Mitchell. Email: [email protected] Thwaite St Mary HERSCHEL AS www.herschel-astrosoc.co.uk MACCLESFIELD AS www.maccastro.com David Balcombe 01953 602624. Email: [email protected] 1st Tues (exc Jan) at Jodrell Bank Observatory &3rd email: [email protected] HIGHLANDS AS www.spacegazer.com Tues at Goostrey Village Hall. NOTTINGHAM AS http:// 1st Tues at The Green House, Beechwood Business email: [email protected] beehive.thisisnottingham.co.uk/nottinghamastro Park North, Inverness. 9 Jan: James Glaisher 1809-1903 Dr A Chapman 1st Thurs British Geological Survey, Nicker Hill, Key- Eric Walker, Tel: 01349 863821 16 Feb: Effects of Space on Humans Prof M Narici worth, Notts. NG12 5GG. email: [email protected] 16 Mar: Planetary Nebulae Myfabwy Lloyd Rob Bush. email: [email protected] 20 Apr: Sundials Mike Shaw HORSHAM AS www.horshamastronomy.co.uk BSERVATORY FOR CORNWALL 15 Jun: Exoplanets Dr Frazer Pearce O 1st Wed at Christs Hospital School, Horsham, West www.observatoryforcornwall.co.uk Sussex. MAIDENHEAD AS www.maidenhead-astro.net email [email protected] 1st Fri (exc July & Aug) at Stubbings Church hall, Richard Griffith ORPINGTON AS www.orpington- email: [email protected] Maidenhead SL6 6QZ Tim Haymes 07796-164010 astronomy.org.uk/ HUDDERSFIELD A & P SOCIETY 4th Thurs at High Elms Nature Centre. MANCHESTER AS www.manastro.co.uk/ www,huddersfieldastronomy.org.uk email [email protected] 3rd Thurs Godlee Observatory, Sackville Building, Every Fri at 4A Railway Street. ORWELL AS www.oasi.org.uk/ Email: [email protected] University of Manchester, Email: [email protected] Weds at Orwell Park Observatory, Nacton, Ipswich HULL & EAST RIDING AS www.heras.org.uk IP10 0ER MANSFIELD & SUTTON AS www.sherwood- 2nd Mon at Room S25, Wilberforce Bldg, Uni of Hull, Roy Gooding (Secretary) 01473-462977 observatory.org.uk/ Cottingham Road, Hull email [email protected] Sherwood Observatory, Coxmoor Rd, Sutton-in- Mark Evans, Secretary. PAPWORTH ASTRONOMY CLUB E-mail: [email protected] Ashfield. NG17 5LF Cathy Beaumont 01623 552276 1st Wed at Vinter Room, Vinter Close (off Elm Way), ILKESTON & DISTRICT AS Email: [email protected]/ Papworth Everard 2nd Tuesdays at Hayloft Erewash Museum, Ilkeston, Peter Sandford 01480 830729 MARCHES A G www.spaceguarduk.com/mag Derbyshire email [email protected] 2nd Fri at Spaceguard Centre, Knighton, Powys. LD7 Mary McMulty, tel. 01298 78234 13 Jan: Extrasolar Planets Keith Tritton 1LW. email: [email protected] 3 Feb: Thermal Imaging Cameras Dr R Salisbury Michael Birch 01597 850010 [email protected] IRISH AA www.irishastro.org ETERBOROUGH www.pas-stargazer.co.uk MEBOROUGH & SWINTON AS P AS Meets at Bell Lecture Theatre, Physics Building, 1st Tues at St Kingburgh Church Hall, Castor, Peter- www.msas.org.uk Queen’s Uni, Belfast borough. Every Thurs at Swinton Working Mens Club, 4 Station e-mail: [email protected] Gerry Holland 01733 769639 Rd, Swinton. S64 8AU Email: [email protected] ISLE OF MAN AS www.iomastronomy.org Shaun O’dell (Secretary) 01709-579529 1st Thurs at the IOM Observatory, Foxdale. LYMOUTH MID KENT AS www.mkas-site.co.uk/ P AS James Martin e-mail: [email protected] 2nf Friday at GK Centre, Alfred Street (off Lockyer St), 2nd and last Fri at The Bredhurst Village Hall, Plymouth JAVEA & DISTRICT AS www.U3ADenia.org Hurstwood Road, Bredhurst, Kent Alan Penman (Chair) 01752-338491 Meets 1st Mon at 3pm at Hotel La Racona, Denia, email [email protected] Costa Blanca email: [email protected] - MIDLANDS SPACEFLIGHT SOC Email: [email protected] ORT ALBOT www.midspace.org.uk P T AS JERSEY AC www.jerseyastronomyclub.org.je 1st Tues—7.45pm at Mozart Drive Community Centre, MILTON KEYNES AS www.mkas.org.uk Meets 2nd Mon at Sir Patrick Moore Astronomy Sandfields, Port Talbot. Alt Fri at Rectory Cottages, Church Green Road, Centre, Les Creux, St Brelade. John Minopoli (secretary) - phone 01792 850919. Bletchley, Milton Keynes Anthony Isherwood. 01534-744510 email: [email protected] uk Mike Leggett Tel: 01908 503692 e-mail: [email protected] EADING www.readingastro.org.uk Email: [email protected] R AS KIELDER OBSERVATORY AS 22 Jan: The Astronomers Roayl Dr Ann Bonell Meets third Sat 7.00pm at St Peters Church Hall, www.kielderobservatory.org 5 Mar: What’s wrong with the sun Dr S Clark Church Road, Earley. Lyn Henderson. Tel: 0191-4261708 12 Mar: Exploration of Jupiter Dr M Leggett Chris Menmuir email: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] 14 May: Viking Astronomy Martin Lunn REDDITCH AS www.redditch-astro.org.uk KNOWLE AS www.knowleastro.org.uk 11 Jun: Charles Messier Pierre Girard 1st Mon (exc Aug) at St Augustine’s Catholic High 1st Mon (+/- 1 wk for BH exc Aug) at St George & St 9 Jul: Astronomers in Obscurity Mark Hurn School, Stonepits Lane, Hunt End, Redditch Theresa’s Parish Centre, Dorridge, Solihull. MORAY AC, SIGMA www.sigma-astro.co.uk B97 5LX. Nigel Foster. 21 Speedwell Dr, Balsall Common, 1st Fri at Birnie Village Hall, Thomshill, Elgin, Moray. email: [email protected] Coventry CV7_7AU Tel: 01676-535941 Ian Brantingham 01466 771371 LEEDS AS www.leedsastronomy.org.uk Email: [email protected] 2nd & 4th Wed at The Friends Meeting House, Carl- (Continued on page 22)

F.A.S. Newsletter 92 21 Winter 2009 (Continued from page 21) SOUTH WEST HERTS AS www.swhas.org.uk WESSEX AS www.wessex-astro- RENFREWSHIRE AS [email protected] society.freeserve.co.uk www.renfrewshireastro.co.uk STAFFORD & DISTRICT AS www.freewebs.com/ First Tues - Allendale Centre, Wimborne, Dorset. Meets every Fri 7.30pm at The Coats Observatory philiphall/ Alan Jefferis, e-mail [email protected] Ian Anderson Tel: 0141 580 9852 3rd Thurs at Weston Road High School, Stafford. WEST DIDSBURY AS email: [email protected] ST18 0YG 2nd Mon (exc Aug) at William Hulme Grammar SALFORD AS www.salfordastro.org.uk Joe Jaworski, 0543 686043 1st Wed at The Observatory, Chaseley Road, Salford: School, Springbridge Rd, Whalley Range. M16 8PR John Pond ST NEOTS AS Susie Metcalfe email: [email protected] Meets 1st Mon 19.00hrs at Paxton Pits Nature Reserve, SALISBURY AS WEST OF LONDON AS www.wolas.org.uk High St., Little Paxton, St Neots. 1st Thurs of month at Glebe Hall, Winterbourne Second Mon (exc Aug) at: Christ Church Chapel, David Roberts 01480-212960 Earls, Salisbury—3rd Thurs Viewing night (if clear) Redford Way, Uxbridge AND at St John’s Ambulance email: [email protected] Rita Collins: 01722-332892 Hall, North Harrow (odd months) Email: [email protected] STOUR AS www.stourastro.org.uk/ Duncan J Radbourne. SAWTRY & DISTRICY AS Meets 1st Tues 19.30hrs in the Jubilee Room, Email: [email protected] Last Fri (exc Jul/Aug) at the Football Pavillion, Cavendish Memorial Hall, WEST NORFOLK AS Greenfields, Sawtry. Tony Dagnall email: [email protected] Contact: Pan Dow 01733-242227 http://westnorfolkas.googlepages.com/wnashomepage Email: [email protected] STRATFORD UPON AVON AS www.astro.org.uk Meets on 2nd Mondays at Tottenhall Village Hall, Nr Home Guard Club, Tiddington, Stratford upon Avon. SCARBOROUGH & RYDALE AS Kings Lynn Mike Whitecross 01789 731784 www.scarborough-as.org.uk Derek Crawford Email: [email protected] 3rd Fri (exc Aug & Dec) at East Ayton Village Hall, SUNDERLAND AS www.sunderlandastro.com 23 Beaumont Way, Marlborough Pak, King’s Lynn. Willson Lane, East Ayton 2nd & 3rd Sunday Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, Wash- Norfolk. PE30 4UB 01723 500389 ington WEST YORKSHIRE AS www.wyas.org.uk email: [email protected] Graham Darke 0191 415 2625 [email protected] Every Tues (exc Aug/BH’s) at ‘Rosse Observatory’, Jan 17: First Stars Dr Tom Theuns SEKAS (SOUTH EAST KENT) www.sekas.co.uk Carleton Rd, Carleton, Pontefract. Tony Bennet 01843-831079 Feb 21: The H-R Diagram Dr Paul Lewis James Boulton 01924-379376. email: [email protected] Mar 21: PanSTARRS Prof Shaun Cole Email: [email protected] SHETLAND AS SWANSEA AS www.swanastro.co.uk WILTSHIRE AS www.wasnet.co.uk/ Monthly, South Mainland, Shetland 2nd & 4th Thur at Lecture Theatre C, Science Block, Andrew Burns Email: [email protected] Peter Kelly Tel: 01957 733242 Uni of Wales, Swansea 01792-299311 WIGTOWNSHIRE AS www.wigtownshire- Email: [email protected] TAVISTOCK AS astro.org.uk SHROPSHIRE AS www.shropshire-astro.com http://tavistockastronomicalsociety.googlepages.com/ Second Wed Glenamour, Newton Stewart. 1st Sat at Rodington Village Hall home Contact: Mark Wiggin. Robin Bellerby 01671-404387 / 07966-413679 e-mail: [email protected] Kelly College. Exeter Road, Tavistock Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Tel: 07877-448117 or SOLENT AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS WHITE PEAK ASTRO OBS GROUP www.delscope.demon.co.uk [email protected] www.wpaog.co.uk/ 3rd Tues. Room 8, Oaklands Centre, Fairisle Road, THE LEWES ASTRONOMERS Hopton Cottage, Hopton, Top Hopton, Derbyshire, Lordshill, Southampton www.lewesastro.org.uk DE4 4DF Ken Medway. 02380-582204 1st Wed at Southover Grange, Southover High St. Robin Spencer. Tel: 01332-881912 email: [email protected] Lewes. BN7 1TP. Email: [email protected] SOUTHAMPTON AS www.southampton- Alice Smol 01273-477441 email: [email protected] OLVERHAMPTON www.wolvas.org.uk astronomical-society.org.uk W AS THURROCK AS www.thurrockastronomy.com 2nd Thurs at Edmund Kell Unitarian Church Hall, Alt Mon, between Sep & Apr at The Environmental Bellevue Road First Wed (exc Aug) at Methodist Hall, High Street, Centre, Highfields School, Boundary Way, Penn Email: secretary@southampton-astronomical- Horndon -on-the-Hill SS17 8LN Wolverhampton. WV4 4NT society.org.uk Roy Hookway Tele;01375 676602 Graham Mogford [email protected] SOUTH CHESHIRE AS www.scastro.org/ email: [email protected] WORCESTER AS www.worcesteras.freeserve.co.uk [email protected] TIVERTON AS ww.tivas.org.uk Meetings held 2nd Thurs 8-10pm at University Col- Meets alternate Thurs Fri at St Aubyn's School, Blundells Road, Tiverton. lege, Oldbury Rd, Worcester SOUTH LINCS A & G S www.solags.co.uk Neil Purves 01884-277425 Michael Morris. Email: [email protected] 3rd Frid (exc Jul/Aug) at St Mary’s Church Hall, TORBAY AS www.torbayastro.org Pinchbeck, Spalding. WORTHING AS Martin Anderson 01406-380003 1st & 3rd Thurs - Sep to Apr at Torquay Boys Meet 3rd Mon (exc Aug) 7.30pm at Emmanuel United email: [email protected] Grammar School. Reform Church, corner Heene Rd/St Michaels Rd. Jan 15: Eclipses K Malin-Smith Dennis Humphreys on 01626 367280 Graham Boots Feb 19: What space junk tells us M Czajkowski UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM AS Email: [email protected] 01903 505346 Mar 19: Cosmic Recycling N Hewitt www.astrosoc.org.uk 101 Ardingley Drive, Goring, Worthing West Sussex Apr 16: Astroimging—beginners P Pocklington We are a University society but all are welcome. BN12 4TW Jun 18: Hometown Jeff Powell Kym Goss, email: [email protected] WORTHING ASTRONOMERS USK AS www.uskastronomicalsociety.org.uk www.worthingastronomers.org.uk LIST OF OFFICERS 2008/2009 Email: [email protected] Meet 1st Wed at ‘North Star’, Littlehampton Rd., VECTIS AS (IoW) www.vectis-astro.org.uk Worthing President, Secretary, Treasurer & 4th Fri of month (exc Dec) at Parish Hall, Town Lane, Brian Halls: 01903-521205 Newsletter Editor - See Page 1 Newport. Email: [email protected] Vice President: Sue Curd email: [email protected] WYCOMBE AS www.wycombeastro.org.uk Callum Potter: [email protected] WADHURST AS www.wadhurst.org.uk/was/ Third Weds at Woodrow High House, between High Wycombe and Amersham. PLI & Distribution: Third Wed at the Methodist Church Upper Room, Jackie Harris. Email: www.wycombeastro.org.uk Steve Williams: [email protected] High Street, Wadhurst. G G Rathbone, 13 Brookfield, Kemsing, Sevenoaks, Feb 17: Ptolemy landing on a comet Dan Andrews Membership Sec: Kent. TN15 6SQ Mar 17: Enormous Energies Martin Hardcastle John Axtell: [email protected] Apr 21: Quantum Universe Sean Ryan WALSALL AS www.walsallastro.co.uk May 19: Eclipse 2009 Jerry Worman Meetings Sec: Every Thurs at the Rushall Olympic Football Club, Jun 16: Distance Prof Stuart Malin Shaun O’Dell (see details on Page 1) Dales Lane, Walsall. Webmaster: Alan Ledbury 01922 632624 email: YORK AS www.yorkastro.co.uk Gary Gawthrope [email protected] email: [email protected] Denham Room, The Priory Street Centre, York, Martin Whillock on 01347 821849 WEBB DEEP-SKY SOCIETY email: [email protected] Chilterns Group : Steve Williams www.webbdeepsky.com/ North West Group : vacant Bob Argyle. email: [email protected]

West Midlands : Dave Evetts Details of meetings mentioned in the Society Roundup should be Deadlines for submission for the next newsletter: confirmed before travelling. All programmes may be subject to SAGAS: Keith Brackenborough Spring 2010 — 26 March 2010 change with no notice. The FAS can accept no responsibility for any Please remember to send ALL items to the Editor. inaccuracies. However if the details of your society are incorrect, or Yorkshire Group : Paul Harper indeed if you aren’t included, please send details to the Editor. Material can only be returned if supplied with a SAE.

F.A.S. Newsletter 92 22 Winter 2009